Marauders Together Forever
by Moony1972
Summary: Follow the Marauders through their life at school. Starts from Year 1. Go through evil teachers, the Map, that Furry Little Problem, to even Baby Harry. This story will ultimately go through that fateful day at Godric's Hollow.
1. Life Dreams Crash

**Disclaimer: Sorry, I'm not JK Rowling, no matter how much I pray for it to be true. This is all her world. I do not own any of the character nor am I making any money off of this, nor do I want to.**

**A/N: Enjoy! This is my first ever Fanfiction.**

**Chapter 1: Life Dreams Crash**

Six-year-old Remus Lupin was still unconscious after the night of the full moon. Hope was crying on her husband Lyall's shoulder, having understood the gravity of the situation her son had gotten himself into. She was a muggle, and only learned of Lyall's magic after Remus had shown his magical abilities. She was so excited when she saw her son's talent, and Lyall had only pointed out so many times the excessive talent for a young wizard that Remus had. It had never crossed Hope's mind that she would have to see Remus like this, so beat up and weak.

Lyall gave a comforting squeeze to Hope's hand and continued to watch Remus lying there so weak. Lyall had a highly publicized opinion against werewolves, but now it seemed that in return for his sins, his son was now to pay. He watched the healer pace back and forth, waiting for Remus to arouse.

"Remus has been bitten, correct?" Lyall asked, though dreading the answer.

"I'm afraid so, Mr Lupin. There wasn't anything you could do, had you come ten seconds later, your son wouldn't be alive right now," Healer Jones said.

"It is my fault. He wouldn't have been bitten if it weren't for me," Lyall said, guilt washing over his entire face.

"Don't say that dear. It was meant to be," Hope said, speaking for the first time in over eight hours.

"I just want you to understand the risks your son has now that he has become a werewolf," the Healer said, though clearly uncomfortable.

"Carry on," Lyall said, walking over to sit on the bed next to his young son.

Healer Jones cleared her throat, "Transformations will not only be dangerous for you, but for your son. If he is kept alone, he will start to scratch and bite himself. There have been cases where young werewolves have died due to this phenomenon. If you see this as dangerous and wish to abandon him, we would not recommend releasing Remus into the wild, but putting him down. Would that interest you?"

Hope's eye twitched as she started to tremble with anger. "How dare you suggest something like that? How DARE you speak of my SON as if he is an ANIMAL! He shows talent, like no other of his kind! He WILL live a normal life!"

The Healer inhaled, trying to keep her cool. "Yes, of course, I apologize. But you are aware of the prejudices against his kind. I assume especially you, Mr Lupin?"

"I understand the prejudices, but it seems as if my views would be changed. Remus is not a monster."

"Yes, well, over half of the wizarding population would disagree with that opinion. Remus will have trouble getting a job, and will more that likely not be accepted into any school. No headmaster would be willing to accept a werewolf into a school, where students are there. They would be endangered. No one would want to talk to him."

Remus let out a small moan of pain before slowly opening his eyes. His eyes darted around the room he was in. He saw white walls around him. Slowly his eyes worked their way into focus, but he could not remember seeing such a room. He slowly turned his head towards his parents, who were eyeing Remus very carefully.

"Where am I?" He said, rather weakly.

Healer Jones took the initiative to answer his question. "You, Remus Lupin, are in St. Mungos. How are you feeling?"

Remus felt too weak to express the shock he felt from this reply. He looked down at his arms and legs, which were now covered in gashes. He propped himself up to a sitting position, not knowing what quite to say about his condition.

"Er, I'm fine. I'm covered in gashes and feel weak, but other that that I'm fine. Why? What happened?" Remus asked, starting to get worried of the solemn expressions of the adult's faces.

Hope promptly began to sob and Lyall took it upon himself to comfort her once more. He gave a nod to the Healer to continue talking to Remus.

"What do you know about werewolves?"

"They're bad, vicious monsters who care nothing about themselves. They like to hurt people and want to take over the world and…" Remus trailed off, realization growing in his eyes. "I haven't…what…why?"

"Last night it was a full moon. You were bitten. You are a…a…" the Healer was unable to break the news to the innocent face looking up at her.

"A what?" Remus said, his voice starting to tremble. "Tell me. Tell me!"

Healer Jones glanced at Lyall, not wanting to be the one to confirm Remus' suspicions. Lyall closed his eyes and took a breath before speaking.

"A werewolf."

"A w-w-werewolf?" Remus stammered. "B-but, no, but, I'M NOT A MONSTER!"

Healer Jones looked at Remus with pity in her eyes. "You're not a monster."

Remus' eyes darted between the Healer and his father, hoping to see his father's jovial face exclaiming it to be a prank and his mother to start laughing and playfully hitting him. But there was no such hint at this being a sick prank. Their faces stayed solemn.

"B-but, Daddy hates werewolves! I'll be abandoned! My friends –" Remus said, full of genuine fear.

Lyall had not looked Remus in the eyes until now. "You are not a monster. People change. I do not hate werewolves and you most certainly do not fall into the monster category."

Remus turned away from his parents and looked towards the other side of the room. Hope stood up and started to gently place her palm on Remus' forehead.

"We will never abandon you, Remus, no matter what happens. You know, being a werewolf comes with a challenge, one I'm sure you'll succeed in," Hope said, attempting to cheer Remus up. Remus merely shrugged his shoulders.

Lyall put his face in his hands, feeling more and more guilt as he saw the problem that he had caused his family. Those words. Those simple words in the ears of Fenrir Greyback showed how much his life would be changing: "Werewolves are soulless, evil creatures, deserving nothing but death." He should have kept his mouth shut. His son was the one who would have to pay for his mistake.

Healer Jones walked over to Remus and used her own motherly tone, "Ah, yes, the responsibility. I have heard of what a bright kid you are. You will simply have to keep this a secret. And, on top of that, you'll be aware of the time of the month and use your excellent memory to remember dates of the full moon. I'm sure you can do that, can't you?"

Remus lip started to tremble. It all was coming to hit him to fast. Yet he had no choice but to go with the flow. He gently nodded his head, knowing that he couldn't exactly answer 'no' to the Healer. There was a moment of silence before Remus moaned, "Why me?"

Healer Jones and Hope glanced at each other. Hope looked back at Lyall to long enough to see tears falling from his eyes. She looked back at her son, "It had to happen to someone, and you were the best for the job."

"Say this is a bad prank Daddy pulled. Just say that and I'll get revenge. Please."

Hope had no idea what to say and instead got up from the bed alongside the Healer. The Healer was unable to look at any of the Lupins anymore.

"When can we take him home?" Hope asked.

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here!" Remus screamed and Lyall walked over to Remus to try and console him.

"How did he hear us?" Hope asked, curiosity etched into her face, as they started to walk further away from Remus' earshot.

"His senses will be heightened, he'll be faster and stronger than any normal being. He shouldn't try and get into fights, it'll arouse suspicion towards his lycanthropy," the Healer said matter-of-factly, smiling slightly as Remus beamed towards his newfound strength when beating his dad in a game of arm-wrestling. "You can take him home now, he looks much better and his vital signs were all good about an hour ago. Ask your husband to create a room using magic for his transformations, underground would be the best."

Hope nodded her head.

"He will grow differently than the other children, he will always appear small and weak if he doesn't attack a living species, but he will be strong. I have faith in your son," the Healer said, gently approaching this topic. "He will appear weak before and after the full moon. And sick. He'll be irritable and won't be able to handle much."

Hope nodded her head weakly. This would be her son's last full moon as a normal wizard.

"People will abandon him. Let him face the truth. But do not allow him near too many children. Move to the countryside," the Healer said warily, watching Hope's expression. But Hope hadn't moved a muscle. "Love him. He'll need it."

Hope couldn't look in the Healer's eyes after that, it was too much for her to handle. But she would stay strong for her son. That was what he needed the most. Hope ambled over and picked up her already small son (averaging about forty-two inches) and Lyall followed, his face depressed as he thanked the Healer before walking out of the room. They flooed back into their home.

* * *

><p>It had been two years ever since Remus had been bitten. He spent long periods of time in his room reading all the books he could get his hands on. He was lonelier than he had ever been in his life. He tried to be a quiet, mature kid, never getting on his parent's nerves or doing anything that would possibly upset them. He obeyed anything they told him to do. He heard his father walking up the stairs and watched his dad open the door.<p>

"Hey Remus," his dad said, as he gently shut the door.

"Hello Daddy. Nice day?" Remus said politely.

"Don't be so polite!"

"Sorry Daddy."

Lyall face palmed before continuing, "Anyway, I'm going to go and prank your mother. You coming? I'll only do it with you."

Remus looked up at his dad, his eyes searching through the past pranks he used to play. But he shook his head.

"Come on Remmy! Why not?"

"Don't call me that, Daddy."

"Sorry, but I think your mum is missing your practical jokes. In fact, so am I. So whaddya say?" Lyall asked.

"I'm sorry Daddy. I don't want to make Mum mad."

Lyall sat down on the bed next to Remus and rested his arm around Remus' shoulder. Remus didn't move a muscle.

"We really aren't going to abandon you. No need to grow up so fast."

"Yeah, but I have to be careful," Remus said sincerely. "Grandpa, Grandma, my cousins, my friends, they all weren't supposed to abandon me either. But it seems that they did. There isn't anything I can do about it."

Lyall looked away from Remus again, remembering the nine words that had changed Remus' life: "Werewolves are soulless, evil creatures, deserving nothing but death."

"We won't abandon you Remus."

"I don't feel like it Daddy. I want to read."

Lyall sighed and got up from bed, "I wish this hadn't changed you so much."

Remus stood up, his face flared with anger. "My dreams are gone! Done! There isn't any hope! I can't be an auror, a teacher, nothing! And it wasn't my fault. I was the one in the wrong place at the wrong time. I pity the guy who bit me. And I have to grow up so I don't make the same mistake which he did."

Lyall froze, looking at Remus straight in the eyes. "Don't pity him," he said as he walked out of Remus's bedroom.

**A/N: So, what do you think? You know reviews make everyone happy? You do a good deed and I get to improve my writing! Share your thoughts!**


	2. Never Fear, A Letter Is Here!

**A/N: Hey, because I'm feeling super happy today, I decided to post this early. I want to thank SiriuslyLoopyDora for being my first reviewer EVER! Her (or is it his?) stories are really good and I'd recommend reading them. I just realized how happy reviews make me. When I was reading I was like, why are people so giddy about reviews, and now I totally understand! **

**This chapter is longer than the first, and will probably be the average length chapter for this story.**

**Disclaimer: Sorry, I'm not JK Rowling, so I'm probably not giving autographs. This is for entertainment purposes only.**

**Chapter 2: Never Fear, A Letter is Here!**

Eleven-year-old James Potter whizzed around on his broomstick, feeling the breeze against his face.

"Hey James, get down here! Game's about to start!" Carl yelled at his son, trying to get him to come down.

James did a flip in the air before coming down to greet his dad, in which he jumped off his broomstick.

Carl chuckled, "That's enough showing off, Jamesie."

James gave a sheepish smile as he stepped close to his dad. Carl always reckoned that James was one of the best Quidditch players he had ever seen, and since he often played with twelve of his colleagues, they would fall short a chaser, which Carl figured James could play.

The seekers stood near the box of the Quidditch balls, shook hands, released the bludgers and then the snitch before throwing the Quaffle up into the air. Colin, who was pursued by a bludger Ludo had hit towards him, passed the Quaffle towards Everard as the seekers mounted their brooms. Carl intercepted the Quaffle and raced towards the goal posts carefully guarded by Victor and passed the Quaffle to Ernie, who continued Carl's journey. Theodore hit a bludger hard towards Ernie who dropped the Quaffle as he dodged the bludger. James raced for the Quaffle and caught it and threw the Quaffle towards the hoop before anyone but Ludo reacted. Ludo hit a bludger towards Victor who dodged the bludger but missed the Quaffle as it flew threw the middle hoop. James cheered and started to do a victory lap before Carl told James to stay in the game.

The game continued and both teams stayed neck and neck until the snitch was spotted. Ludo and Theodore attempted to hit the other team's seekers, but were soon forced to start protecting the seekers while Magorian and Jugson faced the rest of the players. Thomas and Tiberius dived for the snitch until Thomas leaped from his broom to catch the snitch and landed on his feet. Tiberius laughed at the stunt before dismounting his broom while Ludo and James started to do a lap around the Quidditch pitch chanting, "WE WIN, WE WIN! WE KNEW WE'D WIN, WE WIN! WE WIN!"

Pammy walked out of the house into the backyard, not at all surprised to see the scene that the fourteen men played a part in.

"ALRIGHT! THAT'S ENOUGH PEOPLE!" she yelled and everyone stopped what they were doing and dismounted their brooms. "Thank you. Dinner is ready and I think I'm safe to assume I'm not the only one who's hungry!"

There was a loud cheer as everyone stormed into the Potter mansion. Carl rested his arm on James' shoulder, who laughed and beamed at the victory.

"Nicely played, James," Carl said.

"It was so much fun! We have to do it again!"

"Of course."

"When I go to Hogwarts, I'm going to be on the house team."

"I think that's a great idea. But you have to wait for your second year of schooling. First Years aren't allowed brooms."

"But, but," James said, astonished. "What am I going to do for a year if I'm not allowed to fly?"

"There are plenty of things. Like homework, study, do homework, eat, study, sleep, wake up, learn…you'll never have a dull moment!"

James and Carl laughed as they sat down at an extravagant wooden table with a massive crystal chandelier. All fifteen people sat down and started to say grace. They opened their eyes and the soup started to bubble and the exploded on everyone except for James, who was laughing hysterically.

"JAMES CLEMATIS POTTER!" Pammy screamed. "GET YOUR BOTTOM OVER HERE NOW!"

"Yes mum," James said, putting on an innocent straight face.

"Why did you do it?"

"Do what? It wasn't me."

The men all chuckled at James' answer.

"He's going to be a prankster at Hogwarts, mark my words Carl," Ernie said.

"Not much unlike yourself, with that dreaded cloak of yours," Tiberius hastened to add, chortling.

"Shut up all of you!" Pammy exclaimed. "You'll only encourage him."

"Honestly mum, if you think you can change eleven years worth of habit, I think we ought to ship you off to St. Mungos."

The guests started to laugh harder at this, but Pammy and Carl were not amused.

"Go to your room, James, now."

"Yes mum."

James walked up the steps, pursing his lips as to not let out a laugh.

"Nice one, James!" Ludo said, grinning madly.

James chuckled as he heard Pammy yell, "LUDO BAGMAN!"

James looked over at all of his stuff. He'd already packed everything he needed for Hogwarts but was missing one thing, his letter. Once he'd receive his letter, his parents would then take him to Diagon Ally. Of course, this was taking a little while. It wasn't that James had doubts about being accepted into Hogwarts, he was well aware of the talents he possessed, but he would appreciate it if Hogwarts would hurry up with the task.

The next morning James woke up, realizing only then that he had fallen asleep. He made his way down the stairs and sat down at the table, putting his feet up. Carl and Pammy made their way to the dining room bringing in breakfast.

"Good morning!" James yelled out ecstatically.

Carl and Pammy didn't look amused by James antics.

"Feet off the table," Pammy said.

James quickly got his feet off the table and rested his elbows upon the table instead.

"James," Carl said warningly.

Groaning, James got his elbows off the table and sat politely. They all started to eat in silence.

"Dad, when do you think I'm going to get my Hogwarts letter?" James asked.

"It'll come when it's ready. You know Dumbledore, he –" Carl said.

"No, I don't know Dumbledore," James said, with a hint of a smile on his face.

"Well no, we don't know Dumbledore as a headmaster either, Dippet was headmaster during our time, but it is rumoured that he likes to do everything in riddles."

"Why? Why must he make everything so hard?" James whined, not in the mood for a hearing riddles.

"It'll come when it comes," Pammy said sternly. "Do not try and rush the moment."

James groaned and continued to eat. Suddenly, he heard a screech from an owl. He hastily got up from his chair despite his parent's protests and stared out the window. It was a brown barn owl carrying a yellowish looking envelope.

"Mum, dad, I think it's my Hogwarts letter," James said, startled as the owl continued to make its way towards the house.

Carl and Pammy got up immediately, all manners forgotten. James opened the window and the owl flew over their heads and started to circle the dining room. James laughed; this owl was amazing. The owl lowered itself to just over James' hands, dropped the letter, grabbed the bag of owl treats and flew out the window. James couldn't help but laugh even harder at the owl's behavior.

Pammy stared at where the owl treats had been, "How disrespectful."

This did not seem to cure James' laughter, and Carl was unable to hold his in any longer as well. Pammy started to chuckle before sitting back down in the chair she had been in. A couple of minutes later Carl and James made their way back to the table and James opened the letter.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

"Clearly doesn't mind showing off, this man," James said, smirking.

"James," Pammy said in a disapproving tone.

Dear Mr Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

"So I'm going right?" James asked as his eyes darted over the letter.

Carl chuckled, "Straight to business, you are."

James looked at both of his parents expectantly.

"Yes, you're going to Hogwarts," Pammy said with a sigh.

"Awesome! Let's write a reply and go to Diagon Ally!" James said, practically bouncing up and down in excitement.

Carl and Pammy couldn't help but chuckle at James' excitement. They were in no mood to shoot him down.

* * *

><p>Sirius Black up and out of bed by six am, getting himself looking presentable. He mumbled and muttered grumpily as he washed his face. He put on a set of robes before making his way out of the bathroom. He sat down on his bed and looked around at the only interesting room of the house, his bedroom. He had pictures of muggle women in muggle bikinis lined across his bedroom walls.<p>

"Siri?" an innocent sounding boy said as he entered the room.

"Yeah Reg?" Sirius said, smiling at the boy. "How are you this fine morning?"

"Fine. A little bored and lonely, but all in all fine."

"That's cool. What else would you expect in this house though?"

"You're right. You know, you'll be going to Hogwarts soon. I'm going to miss you."

"Yeah, but we'll see each other on breaks. And then in two years you'll be going too. But yeah, I'll miss you too."

Regulus made his way onto Sirius' bed. "You lined your walls with more posters. I'm surprised Mother hasn't found any of this yet."

"I'd best keep it that way. Although I'd love to see the look on Mother's face. Anything I can do to annoy them," Sirius said.

"Oh, do you have to go to Hogwarts?"

"Reggie! I haven't even got my letter yet and you're already worrying?"

Regulus laughed and made his way onto Sirius' lap. "But it'll be coming soon. I was thinking about it ever since you turned eleven."

"So basically, just last night?" Sirius asked with a smile.

"Yeah."

"Don't worry," Sirius said. "Or you're going to make me depressed too. Although speaking of Hogwarts letters, I should be getting mine soon unless Dumbledore won't want me going to Hogwarts."

Regulus clutched Sirius tighter.

"Although Bella and Cissy made their way there, and they're the worst of the lot!"

"Stop it Siri, don't say that."

"Sorry."

The two brothers sat in silence for a bit until Sirius broke the silence.

"C'mon Reg. I'm hungry. Let's go get breakfast."

Regulus smiled and they made their way through the hall. It was awfully eerie. The walls were black and lined with house-elf heads. It had a cold, dark overtone to it. The stairs creaked as the two walked downstairs. They made their way into the kitchen, where Walburga Black was.

Walburga didn't exactly give off a friendly, outgoing personality, and when she smiled at Sirius, it gave the impression that she had committed a terrible crime. She was already sitting at the table with Kreacher serving food and Orion sitting next to Walburga. Both had cold smiles plastered onto their faces and it unsettled Sirius quite a bit.

Sirius sat down across from his parents and next to Regulus. Regulus truly made it his first priority to get along with everyone, but he always put his Orion and Walburga's beliefs first. Orion and Walburga were talking among themselves, quite loudly, but both Sirius and Regulus knew it was wise not to speak. They were children to speak only when spoken to, and not to share their own opinions. They were merely objects.

"I was at the ministry the other day," Orion said. "They've hired another Mudblood."

"Oh, not so great news then. Mudbloods, they'll start to take over our world soon if we're not careful."

"We ought to make them our servants or something."

"I wouldn't stand for that sort of that filth entering my house."

"I agree. It is only families like ours that are capable of making decisions for our society."

"I hear the Potters have finally left that group of high standing families. Classified as blood-traitors. Have you any idea why?"

"Yes. When they were questioned on their views of Mudbloods, they claimed to stand for them, quoting them: 'We should all be equals'. Such filthy views in my opinion."

"I agree," Walburga said as she turned to face Sirius and Regulus. "What do you think?"

"I agree," Regulus said promptly while Sirius began to rapidly nod his head.

"Ah and Sirius, the heir of the noble family of Black, your Hogwarts letter should be coming today," Orion said. "They mentioned that at the Ministry."

Sirius nodded but felt his stomach sink at the ruined surprise. At the same time his heart leapt at the fact he wouldn't have to be staying in this cold, dark house any longer.

"Which of course means you'll have to receive a talking to," Walburga said.

"Fire away," Sirius said, tonelessly.

"Slytherin is the only noble house left at Hogwarts. You are to be in there," Walburga said.

"It's not a choice. A hat decides," Sirius said before clasping his hand over his mouth, realizing his mistake.

"Ah, but you must display all Slytherin traits to the hat," Orion said.

"You will make the Black family proud, maybe become Slytherin Head Boy."

"Yes, Mother."

"Be with Bella and Cissy, but I ask you to avoid Andy at all costs," Walburga said.

"Andromeda is a disgrace to the Blacks and Slytherin," Orion said. "Bella and Cissy are noble, and will help you make friends."

"I do not doubt you in anyway, Sirius. You shall be an excellent and noble addition to Hogwarts," Walburga said.

"Do not join anything where Mudbloods may be involved. You are to top your class and work hard. You are not to talk to anyone lesser than you."

"Yes Father, yes Mother," Sirius said, no sort of emotion able to be viewed on his face.

Orion searched Sirius' face for any sort of disagreement before saying, "Okay. You are dismissed. You too, Regulus."

Regulus jumped up at the opportunity to get away from the table while Sirius tried to catch up. They made their way back into Sirius' room, where an owl was waiting outside his window. Regulus looked at Sirius who gave a warm grin to Regulus before Regulus ran to the window to let the owl in with the yellowish envelope. It dropped the letter on Sirius' and flew out as quickly as it could.

"I don't think it like my room very much," Sirius said as Regulus handed him the letter.

Regulus laughed, a real laugh, not the kind he did in front of Walburga and Orion.

"Well, open it!"

Sirius laughed as he gently opened the letter and scanned it.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Mr Black,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

"Ooh," Regulus said, still staring at the letter. "The Headmaster is Albus Dumbledore."

"Yeah, a Mudblood lover. I doubt Mother and Father would be too pleased," Sirius said.

"No, no they wouldn't," Regulus said, and they chuckled again.

"Reg?"

"Yeah?"

"What if I'm not in Slytherin?" Sirius asked, with genuine concern etched upon his face.

"Erm," Regulus paused, thinking of what he should say. "Mother and Father would more than likely disown you."

"I know that. But you?"

Regulus dreaded that question. "We might drift apart a bit."

Sirius' shoulders dropped, "That's what I thought."

"But I think that you will be in Slytherin."

"If I weren't, would you follow my footsteps?"

Regulus stood up from the bed, starting to feel highly uncomfortable. "Why are you asking this to me?"

"Answer the question."

"Mother and Father are very powerful," Regulus said.

"Yeah."

"But I'd still love you, Siri. You're my brother," Regulus added, trying to cheer Sirius up. "What do you need to get from Diagon Ally?"

Sirius shrugged his shoulders, "There's another paper. You read it. I'll look over your shoulder this time."

Regulus beamed as he took out the sheet of paper.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

UNIFORM

First-year students will require:

1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)

2. One pointed hat (black) for day wear

3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry nametags

COURSE BOOKS:

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk

A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot

Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling

A Beginners' Guide to Tranfiguration by Emitic Switch

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore

Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble

OTHER EQUIPMENT:

Wand

Cauldron (pewter, standard size 2) set

Glass or crystal phials

Telescope set

Brass scales

Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad

(Here Regulus read the next line and smirked)

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICK

"WHAT?" Sirius exclaimed, astonished. "Now what am I supposed to do at Hogwarts?!"

* * *

><p>Ten-year-old Remus was in his living room reading <em>Hogwarts: A History<em> for the ninth time. He tried to imagine what it would be like to visit there, to live there, and to learn there. But it would be a stage in life he'd just have to miss, another sacrifice due to his lycanthropy. His eleventh birthday was approaching, but the excitement other witches and wizards were feeling, he would not feel. He couldn't help but feel his heart sinking as he continued to read _Hogwarts: A History._ He slammed the book shut, and Lyall jumped at the sound.

"Remy, what's up?" He asked, concerned.

"Daddy, how many times to I have to tell you? Don't call me that."

"You shouldn't be feeling irritable, the full moon was two weeks –"

"DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT THAT!" Remus screamed. "I hate it! It's messed up my life!"

"Rem –"

"I want to go to Hogwarts, Daddy! But I can't! I want to earn money! I can't! I don't want you spending money on some useless cure! I want to be a normal wizard!"

Lyall stared in shock at Remus, a tear falling down his cheek. Those words: Werewolves are soulless, evil creatures, deserving nothing but death were back to haunt him once more.

"I'm so sorry Remus," Lyall said, no longer making eye contact with Remus.

"No, I'm sorry Daddy," Remus said, trying to calm himself down. "I'm overreacting. I shouldn't have yelled at you. It's not your fault. It's the moon. It makes people make mistakes."

"Do not pity the werewolf that bit you Remus."

"Sorry Daddy. But why?"

Lyall slumped down onto the couch and put his face in his hands.

"Because it's my fault," Lyall said, determinedly staring down at the floor.

Remus had never seen his dad like this. He sat closer to his Lyall and started to soothingly rub Lyall's back with his hand.

"Don't say that," Remus said. "If you feel sad or it hurts to tell me, you don't have to."

Lyall shook his head, annoyed with the politeness Remus was showing him. "You deserve to know. You've probably heard of Fenrir Greyback at some point or the other, haven't you?"

Remus slowly nodded his head, a bit worried on where this was going. "He positions himself to try and attack children so he can create an army. You told me that before."

"Yes," Lyall said, his voice starting to tremble. "We got in an argument after I caught him. I kept my cool, but I could only do it for so long. Eventually I cracked. I said, in a loud, booming voice: 'Werewolves are soulless, evil creatures, deserving nothing but death'. He stared at me, and…and…"

Remus took his hand off Lyall's back, "He bit me."

Lyall could no longer control the tears streaming down his face, "I'm sorry. You don't have to forgive me, but I'm sorry."

Lyall wiped his eyes and looked at Remus, almost desperately but Remus didn't look back. He was trying to let the information soak in, but this was not what Remus had expected. He hadn't done anything wrong; it was his dad's entire fault! He was ready to start yelling at his dad, but bit his tongue. He had to forgive his father or risk abandonment.

"It's okay Daddy," Remus said, starting to look up at his father. "It's not your fault. Anybody would have cracked."

Lyall nodded but then looked away from Remus once more. Remus leapt into Lyall's lap and started to embrace him tightly, and Lyall started to hug back. Lyall couldn't help but feel a large weight lifted off of his back, the guilt lessening drastically. They broke apart but Remus stayed on Lyall's lap.

"I'm sorry you won't be going to Hogwarts. How about tomorrow I take you to Diagon Ally to buy you a wand and some spell books and I teach you at home?" Lyall said.

"But, Daddy, that's breaking the law!"

"So? It won't be broken because you'll be doing it near me. They'll assume it's me doing the magic."

Remus' face lit up, "I would love to, Daddy."

Lyall smiled lifted up Remus onto his shoulders. Remus started to laugh, touching everything he could with his newfound height.

Hope prepared a small meal and set it upon the table, smiling when she saw Remus.

"So you told him?" She asked Lyall.

"I did," Lyall said. "And he forgave me!"

Remus laughed harder at the excitement his dad had shown. Lyall sat Remus down at the table. Remus waited until both his parents got food before he took his own small piece of toast. He ate it, and sat watching Hope and Lyall eat.

"Remus," Hope said. "You have to eat more that just one piece of toast. How else would you get big and strong?"

Remus smirked, "Sure, a normal human being must. But I'll always be strong and no matter what I eat, I'll stay small so why bother? Besides, there's some chocolate in my room I have to save room for…"

Hope stared at Remus in disbelief that he managed to sneak up a supply of chocolate while Lyall started to laugh. During this time, there was a small knock on the door.

"I'll get it," Remus said. "You keep eating."

Remus bolted to the door and opened it, seeing a very old man with blue twinkling eyes and a long silver beard.

"Albus Dumbledore?" he whispered in awe. "What are you doing here?"

"To see you, of course."

"Of course? Of course? You say that as if it's obvious! It's not that obvious. You could have been here to see my parents," Remus said, pausing. "Your eyes actually twinkle! I thought it was a myth!"

Dumbledore chuckled, a small tinge of red starting to cover his cheeks. Hope and Lyall came to the room after hearing Remus' voice.

"Who is it, Remus?" Lyall asked as he walked in before freezing in his tracks. "Professor Dumbledore?"

"Ah, Mr Lupin, how are you doing?"

Hope stared in shock and left the room to go and try to prepare refreshments.

"I'm fine," Lyall said, still staring at Dumbledore as if he had sprouted another head.

"I'm here to talk to your son. Remus Lupin, isn't it?"

Remus face palmed. Trust him to forget to introduce himself.

"Yes sir."

"How old are you Mr Lupin?"

Remus looked towards Lyall, who didn't look as if he was planning on answering. In fact, Dumbledore was carefully scanning Remus.

"Me?"

"Yes, you Mr Lupin."

"Oh, erm, ten, but I'll be eleven really, really soon. August 31st."

"And do you know what is special about turning eleven?" Dumbledore asked, his blue eyes continuing to twinkle.

Lyall inhaled sharply, realizing where this was going. Remus understood too, but didn't want to get his hopes too high.

"Hogwarts," Remus said, staring down at the floor. "For a normal person anyway. Not for me."

"I don't see why not," Dumbledore said kindly.

Remus looked towards his father, who finally spoke up. "You are aware of what Remus is, correct?"

"Oh, I know all about Remus Lupin's lycanthropy. I don't see why he shouldn't be able to go."

Remus couldn't contain himself any longer, "WHAT IS THIS SICK JOKE? WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO RAISE MY HOPES TO CRASH THEM DOWN ONCE MORE? YOU DON'T SEE WHY I CAN'T GO TO HOGWARTS? YEAH RIGHT! I'M A WEREWOLF, ARE YOU BLIND? I'LL HURT EVERY STUDENT THERE! NO PARENT'LL SEND THEIR KID TO SCHOOL WITH ME THERE! PEOPLE WILL SUSPECT! WHY MUST YOU TRY TO JOKE ABOUT THIS?"

Lyall had stepped back from his son as he watched Remus' eyes flash. Dumbledore didn't seem to notice.

"If we take the necessary precautions," Dumbledore said calmly. "I don't see why you shouldn't be able to go to Hogwarts. It's just a small illness –"

"IT'S WHO I AM! NOT AN ILLNESS! IT'S NEVER GOING TO GO AWAY!"

"Remus," Lyall said sternly. "Do not insult Professor Dumbledore. Hear him out."

"HE'S MAKING FUN OF ME!"

"Remus," Lyall said warningly.

Remus looked down and whispered, although breathing heavily, "I'm sorry, sir. Carry on."

Dumbledore gave a sad smile in Remus' direction, "Thank you. But I think, with necessary precautions you should be okay. No one will find out. All you have to do is keep it a secret. Almost like a small game."

"Do you believe it will be safe, Professor?" Lyall asked. "I would not want Remus to hurt anybody, and I'm sure neither will he."

"We'll send him to a room to transform, it will be safe."

Remus started to stomp, causing both adults to glance at him. "It's too dangerous!"

Lyall looked at Remus straight in the eyes, "Just try. If anything remotely bad happens, we'll take you back. At least try."

"Fine! But I refuse to go to the Ministry and be tried because of this!"

Dumbledore smiled, "I daresay you'll be wanting your letter then. It is tradition after all."

Remus looked up at Dumbledore and stared at him before grabbing the letter.

Before Dumbledore apparated he said, "I WILL be seeing you on September first then."

Remus leaned against the wall and started to smile as he took out his letter. Lyall was confused.

"I thought you didn't want to go?"

"Oh I want to go," Remus said matter-of-factly. "I just wanted to make sure this wasn't a prank. And I wanted to make sure this was safe."

Lyall smiled, "You can handle this challenge. I believe in you."

Remus and Lyall embraced once more and Hope watched from the kitchen, a tear rolling down her face.

**A/N: Sorry that there was no Peter in this chapter; I haven't quite decided what I want his home life to be like...If you're a Peter fan, you have my sincerest apologies. If you have an idea for Peter, I would love to hear it! Also, would you prefer if I posted the chapters on a timely basis or based on the number of reviews? Because I really want reviews so I can hear your opinions, but I'm not sure if bribing would make me a good person...Anyway, review please! **


	3. The Train, The Deal, and The Hat

**A/N: Wow. This chapter got long! I just wasn't sure where to end it, so I kept going. And now it's long. Oh well. By the way, let's ****not**** expect my updates to continue to be this fast. I'm just super excited right now, and the more reviews I get, the more excited I get. I decided I'm going to thank my reviewers (who are all my new best friends) at the end of the story instead of now, because I totally understand many people skip the top authour's note. **

**Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling, so therefore these are not my characters, which means I own nothing. Darn. (Do I have to put this on every chapter? I'm not going to randomly start owning these characters or poof into JK Rowling, so can we just say this is for the rest of the story?)**

**Chapter 3: The Train, The Deal, and The Hat**

Sirius waved to Orion and Walburga before giving a tight embrace to Regulus.

"I'm gonna miss you Reggie," Sirius said, a tear coming out of his eye.

"Me too," Regulus said. "But you'll write to me often, right?"

"Yeah, of course," Sirius said, his voice starting to betray is strength.

"You didn't really sneak on a you-know-what, did you?" Regulus asked, trying to diffuse the tension.

"Robe pocket," Sirius said, with a small smile.

"Ooh, always the rebel you are."

"Yeah."

"Have fun, then. Wouldn't want you to be late," Regulus said, tears starting to fall harder.

Sirius didn't say much more out of the fear that he would start bawling. He gave another tight squeeze to Regulus and gave a curt bow before leaving his family to get onto the train. He saw Regulus starting to cry harder as he was dragged away by Walburga and Orion. Sirius looked around to notice that the Mudbloods and blood-traitors had started to get on the platform.

Sirius saw a little boy who looked no older than eight give a last hug to his parents before boarding the train. Sirius stared in awe as the weak looking four-foot boy disappeared from his sight. He watched the parents of the boy stay and wave with tears flowing from their eyes. Sirius felt the jealousy burning up inside of him, that boy's parents would probably love him no matter what. Sirius was the one who had to deal with the business-like relationship.

Sirius then saw many others boarding the train. He watched as a chubby boy stumbled through the door of the train before boarding.

Sirius let out a smirk of his own and boarded the train with confidence and grace. He felt his robe pocket and pulled out the small dungbomb he snuck onto the train. He found an empty compartment and set the dungbomb off. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his cousins starting to walk by with their noses in the air. He couldn't let them see him, so he hid under the chair of the empty compartment. Sirius could barely make out the conversation Bellatrix and Narcissa were having.

"You seen Sirius?" Bellatrix asked, with no emotion whatsoever.

"No," Narcissa said. "But we're better off without the whole babysitting idea. He'd be an embarrassment if Lucius were to see him."

"Is he a prefect too?"

"Yup. He wrote to me a couple days ago. I'll just help you get a compartment before I leave."

By this time, Sirius was trembling with anger at the way he had been spoken about. He exited the compartment and waited outside, though staying hidden. Sirius spotted a messy haired boy walk by the hall. The boy seemed to be a first year as well, but he too had entered the train with excessive confidence, almost seeming a bit conceited. The boy had run his hand through his messy hair before opening the compartment in which Sirius had hidden the dungbomb.

Sirius started to stare intently into the compartment the boy had sat in, through the corner of the glass so that he would not be seen. The messy haired boy propped his luggage onto the upper compartment before sitting down. The dungbomb was about to go off any minute.

Ten seconds.

Three seconds.

Two.

One.

BOOM!

The explosion wasn't as loud as Sirius expected it to be from outside of the compartment; people who had been walking along the hallway didn't even flinch. But the boy inside started to hold his nose and groan. Sirius smirked and walked to the front of the door, in the same graceful manner in which the boy had walked. The boy stared at Sirius startled as Sirius opened the compartment door, before allowing his hand to run through his hair, embarrassed.

"Er, hey there," the boy mumbled, his cheeks flushing with red.

"Ugh," Sirius said, attempting to hide his grin while wrinkling his nose. "What smells?"

"Sorry. It seems someone let off a dungbomb."

"Oh?"

"Yeah."

"You were in here when it went off?" Sirius asked, acting casual as he leaned against the doorway.

"Yeah. I wouldn't have sat in here after I smelled this place…I had totally planned to have the first prank."

"Missed opportunity," Sirius said, his smirk threatening to show back up onto his face.

"True. Oh well, I'm gonna have the first revenge prank on the git who did this."

"How are you planning on finding him?"

"I dunno. Hopefully he'll be boasting or somethin' in the Great Hall," the boy said, looking annoyed.

"Can you wait that long?"

"I'll manage."

The boy ran his hand once again through his hair, staring at Sirius as they fell into an awkward silence.

"Er," Sirius said. "D'you think I can sit here?"

"If you can manage the smell. It'll only get worse as time goes on, dunno if you're familiar with dungbombs or not, but you're in robes already…Oh Merlin's pants! I forgot to introduce myself!"

Sirius grinned, "I was waiting for you to realize. Must have been the stench getting to your brain."

The boy gave a grin with an air of confidence, holding his hand out as if he had just seen Sirius. "I'm James Potter. I'm gonna be a first year this term."

"Sirius. First year," Sirius said, grinning, although on the inside his stomach started to produce butterflies.

"What's your surname?" James asked, looking curiously at Sirius.

"I'd rather not speak of it," Sirius said curtly, looking at his feet.

There was another pause when the compartment door suddenly opened, revealing a girl with deep, red hair, appearing to have been crying. She didn't look at James or Sirius, and moved on toward the seat closest to the window, next to Sirius. James and Sirius caught each other's eyes before grinning.

"Er, hello," Sirius said. "I'm Sirius and that's James. What's your name?"

The girl didn't respond and continued to stare determinedly out the window. The two boys shrugged their shoulders and looked back at each other.

"Er…" Sirius started, unsure of what to say.

Before their awkward silence could commence for much longer, a boy with greasy, black hair opened the compartment. He didn't make eye contact with James or Sirius, but instead looked gleeful at the sight of the red haired girl. He sat down next to James, who gave him an odd look before shifting a bit in his seat.

Sirius grinned, taking no notice at the 'couple'. "Seems as if we don't need to worry about them."

"Yeah. The boy smells, no wonder he doesn't mind the compartment."

"Figures. With hair like that, wonder if he even knows what shampoo is."

"Agreed."

"Do you want to search the train and find out who played the prank on you so you can hurry and get revenge on them?" Sirius asked seriously, changing topic from the greasy haired boy sitting across from him.

"Sure," James said. "Let's go."

As James got up, Sirius felt his grin grow wider. "No need to get up. I think I know who put the dungbomb in here."

"Who?" James asked, his eyes eager and filled with mischief.

"Me."

James grinned at Sirius and mock pushed him onto the chair. Sirius mockingly pushed him back. James sat back down in his chair, and the boys grinned at each other, in silence. Through their silence, they were able to hear the red-haired girl mention a term both were rather familiar with.

"Slytherin?"

James raised his eyebrows at Sirius, who didn't look the slightest bit amused. He glanced towards the greasy haired boy with some distaste.

James raised his voice slightly so that he could be heard by the boy and girl, both of whom had stopped talking as soon as James started to speak, though pretended he was still talking to Sirius, "Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"

Sirius was not pleased at the opportunity to have to bring up his family line in front of this new kid. They had been getting along so well, yet this topic was a touchy subject for him. Truth be told, Sirius would not leave if he were to be sorted into Slytherin, but knew that he would be corrupted, and have no rebelling opportunities. But James wouldn't have to know that yet.

"My whole family have been in Slytherin."

James looked shocked at the news. "Blimey! And I thought you seemed alright!"

Sirius grinned, realizing that James was viewing him as his own person and not based on the rest of his family. "Maybe I'll break the tradition," he said, glancing at the other occupants of the compartment, "Where you going, if you've got the choice?"

James grinned again before standing up and puffing his chest out, pulling an invisible sword, "Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart! Like my dad."

Sirius snickered at James antics, while the greasy boy made a small, mocking scoff. James turned on his heel and looked straight into his black eyes.

"Got a problem with that?" James said, flopping back into his seat, attempting to appear bored.

The black haired, stringy boy sneered, "No. If you'd rather be brawny than brainy –"

James stared at the boy, his brain still thinking of what to say when Sirius had cut the greasy boy off.

"Where're you going, seeing as you're neither?"

James roared with laughter, clutching his stomach, along with Sirius. The awkward, stringy boy stared at the two, the hurt evident in his eyes, along with a feeling of distaste. He turned towards the girl, whose cheeks flushed red with anger and grabbed the boy's arm.

"Come on, Severus, let's go find another compartment."

Severus followed as the reckless boys started to immaturely tease the him and the girl, "Ooooh."

James stuck out his foot trying to trip Severus, but missed. Sirius on the other hand yelled out as the girl opened the compartment door, "See ya, Snivellus!"

James and Sirius sniggered as the girl slammed the compartment door shut. James eyed Sirius, appraising him.

"That prat, bet you anything he'll get his wish of being in Slytherin," James said.

"Oh yeah. He was rude," Sirius said shortly, trying to appear engaged in the conversation.

"Smelled funky too. Good comeback you made there, though I shouldn't have expected different from the boy who had the first prank. Ugh, he and this room could have a decent competition on which smells worse."

"Yeah," Sirius said, his mind wondering about what the rest of his family would think of him breaking the tradition of all Slytherin.

James seemed to notice Sirius' discomfort.

"You know, I don't care about what house your family is in, no need to be so uncomfortable."

"Cool."

"Sirius," James said, a little louder this time. "It doesn't matter to me, even if they're involved in the Dark Arts. The important part is who you are."

Sirius looked up at James. "Those are all just empty words to you. I know that. Your opinion would change if you heard my surname."

"I'll prove that it won't change. As far as I'm concerned, you've a fine sense of humour, and I don't think you'll be in Slytherin. Nothing you do would change my opinion of you. So tell me, what's your surname?"

Sirius stared in James' hazel eyes for a couple of seconds before whispering, "Black."

James seemed taken aback at first; that was not what James was expecting by any means. But he softened his glaze and looked at Sirius without even the smallest bit of hatred.

"Black? And you still managed to turn out decent? That takes bravery, we could probably be in Gryffindor together!"

Sirius grinned at James' excitement and the sincerity of what James had said. But to interrupt their moment, the stench of the dungbomb was still getting worse, it was starting to suffocate them.

"Thanks, James, mate," Sirius said, taking a whiff of the air. "How 'bout we get up and find another compartment, this one is suffocating me."

James nodded and stood up, "We can leave our trunks here. My dad says Hogwarts uses magic to summon the trunks to our dormitories."

"Fine by me," Sirius said. "My dad never told me anything like that. But enough about family, let's talk about ourselves. Tell me, do you pull many pranks?"

James opened the compartment door and they both walked out, taking a breath of fresh air, "What do you think?"

"Hopefully, yes."

"Of course! Blimey, I thought you seemed clever."

"I am clever! I was searching for a conversation starter. Any notable ones?"

James smiled, "All my pranks are pretty awesome."

They both looked to their left and found a compartment, which was unfourtunately inhabited with Snivellus and the red head, so they continued to move forward, though groaning slightly.

"A recent one, then."

"Aright," James said. "Well, after I played Quidditch with my dad and his friends, I hid exploding snap cards in my mum's food. They exploded, and then I used some 'accidental' magic to force the food not to splatter on me. I got caught, obviously, but it was worth it."

"Not bad."

"Oh yeah, and that one time I poured a bucket of red paint from the roof down the chimney while my dad was trying to use the floo network. Oh I got in so much trouble, but I had to admit to myself, I had great timing."

Sirius laughed as they approached the back of the train. There was one compartment, with only one occupant within it. It was the sandy haired small boy whom Sirius had seen entering the train earlier.

"You think he's a first year?" James asked, taking in the size of the boy.

The boy's ears perked up, though he carefully continued to stare at his book.

"Judging by his size, I would assume so."

"Yeah," James said. "Too small to be older."

"He looks to young to go to Hogwarts."

"It's the only compartment left, let's talk to him. We could always make a new friend."

"Yeah, maybe he'll join us in Gryffindor."

James smiled, "You seem to sound confident."

They opened the compartment door and looked at the boy.

James grinned, "Can we sit here?"

The boy shrugged, "Not my train."

James looked at Sirius, his grin slightly fading, who merely shrugged. The two shut the compartment door and sat in the seats across from the boy.

"I'm James Potter, and this is Sirius, er…" James paused, unsure if he should give Sirius' last name.

"I'm Sirius Black," Sirius said, with much more confidence than he would have before he met James. "What's your name?"

The boy shut the book and turned to face the window, "It's none of importance."

James and Sirius shared another look.

"I guess it's not only red heads who're cold towards us," James said, shrugging.

"Well," Sirius said. "You mentioned you were playing Quidditch with your dad and his friends, you any good?"

"Yeah," James said, beaming. "My dad says I'm one of the best players he's seen, he reckons I could go professional if I wanted, when I'm older."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. He plays with his friends from the ministry all the time. I'd say he's okay, but Ludo Bagman's something else. He could totally play professionally if he wanted."

"How old is he?"

"Sixteen," James said. "He doesn't go to Hogwarts, he spends a lot of time on his broom. He's the only other non-ministry worker. When he retires from playing Quidditch, I reckon he'll probably work in the ministry, it's the only other thing that seems to interest him."

"D'you think he'll work in the Department of Magical Games and Sports?"

"More than likely. He doesn't seem very auror-isque," James turned to look at the small boy. "What about you, d'you like Quidditch?"

The boy shrugged his shoulders, trying hard to not turn around and look at James and Sirius. They seemed friendly, and that was exactly what Remus had been trying to avoid, making close-ties with anyone.

"Oh come on, you can talk to us!" James said, a little annoyed.

"Yeah," Sirius said, backing James up. "I told you my name, despite my background, there is no way your name could be any worse than mine."

Remus shrugged again, staring out the window as if it was the most interesting thing he'd seen.

"Woah," James said, catching sight of the boy's cheek. "Where'd you get that scar from?"

Remus paled slightly, although neither James nor Sirius noticed this. He shrugged his shoulders again.

Sirius rolled his eyes, "Fine, don't talk to us. We're only being friendly."

"C'mon, you've got to be able to answer something. What year will you be in this term?" James asked, refusing to back down.

Remus didn't give any indication that he had even heard James or Sirius. Before Sirius could open his mouth to beg the young boy to talk, the compartment door opened. Remus let out a soft groan, this was the last thing he wanted, more visitors. There was a reason he had sat in the back of the train.

James and Sirius turned around to look at who had entered the compartment. It was a short chubby boy, who seemed clumsy and nervous about his surroundings. He had pale skin, mousy brown hair, and watery blue eyes.

"C-can I sit here?" the boy asked, looking hopefully at the three boys.

James and Sirius glanced towards Remus, who was still staring out the window, before shrugging at each other.

"Sure, if you want to," Sirius said, in a bored sort of tone.

"Thanks," the boy said, plopping himself down in the seat next to Remus. "Peter Pettigrew."

"I'm Sirius Black, and that's James Potter."

"B-Black?" the mousy boy asked, his blue eyes watering in fear. Sirius stared down at the floor again.

"He's not like the rest of them. And I wouldn't judge someone by their last name, Peter, it's what their heart is like," James said, jumping to Sirius' side.

Sirius gave a grateful smile towards James as he lifted his head back up in the air. Peter had seemed much more relaxed after James' speech.

"And who is that?" Peter asked, pointing toward Remus.

"No idea," Sirius said, a small smile upon his face. "It must take a lot of will power to ignore us for that long."

"Hey, you hear that?" James said to Remus. "The other boy wasn't afraid of us and introduced himself, can't you do the same?"

Remus rolled his eyes, but continued to stare out the window.

Sirius groaned, "Come on, a couple of words can't hurt. I mean, outside can't possibly be more interesting than we are."

Remus didn't respond and James turned to face Peter, "So what house d'you think you're gonna be in?"

Peter looked between Sirius and James, "I'm not sure."

"Surely there's got to be some trait you think you've got," James said.

"Don't know."

"Aren't you a Pureblood?" Sirius asked, staring at Peter. "I'm pretty sure I've heard Pettigrew before."

Peter glanced at Sirius before turning back to James, "I thought you said he wasn't like the rest of them."

"He isn't," James said confidently. "He just asked to check if you even knew of the Hogwarts houses."

"Oh," Peter said, blushing a bit. "Sorry, er…"

"Sirius," Sirius said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

"Sorry Sirius."

"It's fine."

"What house do you think I belong in?" Peter asked, looking between the two boys once more.

"Well," Sirius said, thinking. "I don't really know you, but based on looks I'd say Hufflepuff, but I shouldn't be judging you by your looks…"

"I'm not offended," Peter said quickly. "My family has mainly been in Hufflepuff, and they all reckon I going to be there too."

James turned back to Remus, "So, what house do you think you're going to be in?"

Remus shrugged, annoyed that the boys wouldn't leave him alone.

Sirius also turned to Remus, "Well I don't blame you if you don't know. What house you _want_ to be in?"

Remus shrugged his shoulders again, and this time, instead of James or Sirius annoying him, Peter decided he'd join the fun too.

Peter started to poke Remus, "Hey! I'm Peter. Are you ticklish? Why won't you talk to us?"

Remus continued to stare out the window, trying very hard to ignore the chubby boy.

"Come on, you can talk to us!" Peter said, continuing to prod his finger at Remus.

Remus turned around, rage dancing in his green eyes, "WOULD YOU STOP POKING ME?"

Peter widened his eyes and retracted his arm immediately.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

Remus rolled his eyes and turned to look out the window once more.

"Whaddya know?" James said, his eyes lighting up. "You've got feelings after all! You know we're here!"

Remus bumped his head against the window before proceeding to ignore the three boys once more. There was a small knock on the compartment door, and the four boys heard a woman yell, "ANYTHING OFF THE TROLLEY?"

Remus winced at the loud voice while the other boys ran out of the compartment to grab all the sweets they could get. Remus took a sigh of relief, the boys inside the compartment were so reckless. They just wouldn't leave him alone nor take a hint to stop talking to him. Before Remus could have much time to himself, however, the boys rushed back inside, arms loaded with all sorts of sweets.

"Hey, you, want some?" James asked, pointing to a couple of chocolate frogs.

Remus licked his lips, but controlled himself to continue looking away and to ignore the smell of the chocolate, and shook his head.

"You sure?" James pressed on. "Just one?"

Remus shook his head more forcefully. James shrugged his shoulders. By the time James turned around, he saw Peter stuffing his face with all the sweets he could fit in his mouth at once while Sirius would eat one at a time, although at a very quick pace. James chuckled and unwrapped a chocolate frog, pinning it down so that it wouldn't get away from him.

"So Peter," Sirius said, pulling on a jellysnake. "Why'd you end up switching compartments?"

Peter looked startled when addressed by Sirius, but James gave him a look that told him not to react in a negative way in front of Sirius.

"I, erm, I got kicked out."

"Why?" Sirius asked, seeming concerned for the boy.

"I don't know. I s'pose I wasn't cool enough for 'em. But you won't kick me out, will you?"

"No. But why'd you choose our compartment?"

"Erm, when I asked if I could join the others, they said no. You're the only ones who said yes. And the only empty compartment there smelled insanely bad."

Sirius and James were careful to not catch each other's eye out of fear they may burst into a fit of laughter. To avoid this, Sirius turned to Remus.

"And you," Sirius said. "Why'd you choose this compartment? I saw you entered earlier, all the compartments were empty, why'd you go to the back? No one sits here."

Remus once again shrugged, much to Sirius' annoyance.

"Well, I wouldn't say no one sits here," James said, grinning slyly. "This compartment appears to be rather full."

"Shut it, James. I wasn't talking to you," Sirius said, rolling his eyes. "You're disproving my point."

"Oh, come on! Hey, you, oh nameless one, did I disprove Sirius' point?"

Remus shrugged his shoulders, starting to get very aggravated.

"Fine, I forgot, you're not talking to us," James said. "Oi, Peter, you tell me."

Peter was too busy stuffing his face in chocolate to be able to pay attention to anything James was saying, let alone answer.

"Just leave it, James," Sirius said, chuckling. "Mr Noname, can you puh-lese answer something? Like what's your favourite colour?"

Remus shrugged, and James covered his face in his hands while Sirius let out a large groan. Remus turned around, a small smile playing on his lips.

"What is wrong with you?"

Sirius gasped, "You-you spoke, oh great one with no name!"

Remus rolled his eyes and started to turn around to look back out the window.

"NO!" James cried, causing Remus to turn around, startled. "Don't turn back around! We need you to talk to us!"

"Er…why? You seemed to be carrying on fine," Remus asked, confused by James' dramatics.

"They're not an intellectual group –"

"OI!"

"Besides," James said, continuing on as if Sirius hadn't spoken. "I want to know a bit about the guy I've been sharing a compartment with for majority of the train ride."

Remus rolled his eyes again. "What do you want to know?"

Sirius stared in disbelief. "Have you not been listening?"

"Erm…"

"Your name, house, year, age, scar, favourite colour, my awesomeness –"

"You didn't bring any of that up," Remus pointed out. "Other than name, house, year, scar, and colour, you didn't mention any of the other things."

"So, you asked what I wanted to know."

"Actually, I was talking to James before you rudely interrupted."

Sirius over exaggerated a gasp and put his hand over his heart. "Oh, how could you? My heart is sobbing, now –"

"Shut it, Sirius. Get back to your sweets," James said, pushing Sirius towards Peter. "Let us redo introductions, so you can also be our friend," Remus opened his mouth, about to retort but James stopped him. "I'm James Potter, a first year, I'm going to be in Gryffindor, I hope –"

"I have been listening you know, just been ignoring you," Remus said. "I already know all this."

"Be quiet," James said. "But don't turn away again!" he added hastily. "I just want to continue with the formal introductions. But er, yeah, that's all I had to say."

Sirius shoved James next to the window, "You're an awful public speaker, you know that James? Hi, I'm Sirius Black, and don't you dare say anything about the last name –"

"I wasn't going to," Remus said. "You're not like the rest of them. Well lucky you, I know nothing about the Blacks, so the fact you're not like the rest of them better be a good thing, anyway, that's what I'm assuming…"

"ANYWAY," Sirius said, carrying on as if Remus hadn't spoken. "I'll be a first year and want to be in Gryffindor. I'm eleven, and I think James is too, but he forgot to say so, with that mini brain of his…"

"Whose brain are you calling small?" James asked, glaring at Sirius. "Anyway, yeah I'm eleven. Peter, get your face out of the sweets, it's your turn!"

Peter shook his head and continued to stuff more sweets into his mouth.

"Disgusting," James muttered under his breath, so that in his opinion no one could hear, but Remus let off a small smirk.

"I'll go. If you promise not to bother me anymore," Remus said.

"What?" Sirius said, shocked. "But you're our friend! Why would you want to leave us?"

"Friend? You don't even know me," Remus said, taken aback at Sirius' conclusion.

"Doesn't matter," James said. "We shared a compartment with you, you didn't hex us, we didn't hex you, that makes us friends."

Remus didn't seem to quite understand this logic, "Whatever you want, James, whatever you want."

"What about me?" Sirius and Peter said at the same time, Sirius looking at Peter with some disgust.

"You too, Sirius, Peter," Remus said, hiding the distaste in his tone after looking at Peter. "But we're not friends. We're probably not even going to be in the same house. I mean, I'm happy to be going here, but I figure I'm probably going to be put in Ravenclaw, so…"

"But if all of us are in the same house, we're gonna be roomies and best friends!" Sirius said, the sugar starting to kick into his system.

"Erm…"

"Look, Untitled, we'll make a deal with you. If all four of us end up in the same house, we'll have to be best friends. And that means you'll do everything with us," James said, holding out his hand.

"Erm…"

"You're not allowed to say no. Besides, you seemed pretty certain you're not going to be in Gryffindor, so just shake on it and we can be on our way."

"Fine," Remus said, shaking James' hand.

Remus had considered himself rather fortunate that the curious eyes within this compartment hadn't asked anything too related to the scars that were plastered on his face, the scabs on his hands, or the dark circles around his eyes.

"Well, it's almost dark," Remus said. "We must be almost there. Peter, you should probably change into your robes."

Peter nodded at Remus and left the compartment. A couple minutes later, Peter had returned, wearing a set of black robes, now matching the rest of the compartment. James had thrown all the garbage away, especially the stuff Peter had been stuffing himself with, while Sirius picked up the unopened boxes of candy and put it in his pocket. Five minutes later, the train came to a stop.

Remus' eyes lit up as he stared at the grounds. He jumped out of his seat and ran out, not able to wait to get a good luck at the castle.

"OI, BOY, WHERE'RE YOU GOIN'?" Sirius shouted as Remus had jumped off the train.

James, Sirius, and Peter, on the other hand, took their time to get off the train, taking in a large silhouette, seeming over eight feet tall holding a lantern calling out, "Firs' years! Firs' years! Over here! Firs' years!"

Remus was already standing next to the giant when James, Sirius, and Peter had made their way over.

"Who're you?" Sirius asked, staring up at the huge man.

"Hagrid," the giant answered simply before looking back up and calling, "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! No need fer trunks! Firs' years!"

Remus stared up at the giant, "Hagrid? Rubeus Hagrid? Aren't you gamekeeper?"

Hagrid nodded his large head and held up the lantern over his head, "Is that all the firs' years? Alright, follow me!"

Remus, having noticed James, Sirius, and Peter just behind him, attempted to subtly get away from them to go find other people to sit with. By the time they reached the boats, Remus was a good twenty yards away from them, with any luck, none of them would be able to find them. Luckily, James, Sirius, and Peter had already stepped into their own boat, the sugar seeming to affect Sirius badly. Remus saw a boat, which seemed empty, and started to make his way towards it.

Sirius eyed their boat.

"We seem to be missing he-who-does-not-have-a-name."

"Ah, we do," James said, looking around.

"THERE HE IS!" Sirius yelled, watching Remus make his way towards the empty boat.

"Oh dear," James said. "FORWARD, MY MAN!"

James and Sirius climbed out of the boat, leaving Peter to watch them in minor amusement and admiration. James and Sirius marched towards Remus, who had been trying hard to pretend that he had imagined them walking towards him.

"Where'd you think you're going?" James asked.

"The boat," Remus said, getting frustrated when James and Sirius grabbed both his arms, respectively.

"Alone?" Sirius said. "I see no reason. We've plenty of space."

"I'd hate to waste it," Remus said.

"You won't be wasting it, have you looked at your size?"

"DON'T INSULT ME!" Remus yelled, his temper getting the better of him once more. All the first years turned around to stare. "And, erm," Remus continued, blushing profusely. "Maybe, you, erm, could let go of me?"

James and Sirius snickered at Remus' outbursts, but overall seemed to be enjoying the attention.

"NEVER!" Sirius yelled. "We shall not back down from the task at hand!"

"Forward, men! Left! Left! Left, right, left!" James chanted, practically dragging Remus along the ground.

Remus stopped struggling and stepped into the boat, crossing his arms over his chest, "I can't believe you guys did that. That was so humiliating."

"Hey," Sirius said. "We aren't the ones who screamed loud enough to break glass simultaneously capturing every first year's attention, as a well deserved side effect."

"Oh, shut up."

The boats started to move soon, and flowed gracefully along the water.

"Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts soon! Jus' round this turn."

The magnitude of Hogwarts so great that even Sirius and James seemed shocked. Remus had only seen pictures, but the real thing made a large difference in everything that he saw. The castle glowed, and gave off a home-like aura. Suddenly Sirius and James stood up, and started to jump upon the boat.

"HOGWARTS IS HERE! HOGWARTS IS HERE!" they chanted.

Remus widened his eyes, "Guys! What're you doing? Stop! Peter get over here, I'm not heavy enough to support them! Peter! Augh! Stop it! We're gonna tip, ST–"

The boat tipped over, dropping the four first years into the water. Remus could hear laughter ringing all around him.

"YOU GREAT PRATS! YOU BLOODY EEJITS! NOW LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" Remus shouted, not at all amused by this scenario.

Sirius and James started to splash each other with the water, laughing, while Peter had climbed back into the boat.

"Ye' get in yer boats!" Hagrid said, his voice booming over the entire lake.

Remus, having been the lightest, floated the furthest away, meaning he was the last one to enter the boat.

"Great," Remus said. "Now I'm wet."

"Oh, you know you love us," James said, grinning.

"Now what hint could I have possibly said that has led to you to come to that conclusion?" Remus asked, not amused in the slightest.

"Oh, loosen up, mister. You know you had fun! Just think how much time you spent in the water, more time than all of us!" Sirius said cheerfully.

Remus growled, trying to get all thoughts of fun out of his head. The last thing he needed was to actually start liking these prats he ended up having to share a boat and compartment with.

The four of them entered the castle soaking wet, leaving puddles in everywhere, and their shoes squeaking.

"Oh, why oh why did I let you guys tip over the boat?" Remus moaned. "We don't need the extra attention."

"Sorry," James said. "But did you leave your sense of humour at your house or something? Or is it still in your trunk?"

Remus rolled his eyes.

"Well," Sirius said. "The moment of truth is soon to arrive. We will be sorted, and the fate of the four of us will now be rested in the next fifteen minutes."

"Do you know how we get sorted?" Peter asked, his face losing colour quickly.

"By fighting a troll," James said, straight faced.

"Yeah," Sirius said. "They have to figure out who is worthy to study magic."

Peter started to tremble.

"Oh leave it guys," Remus said. "Peter, there is a hat which announces what house you'll be in. Nothing remotely life threatening."

Peter took a sigh of relief while James and Sirius rolled their eyes.

"Aw, you're no fun, er…" James paused, struggling to think of a name.

"One who was above even having a name," Sirius said, shaking his head.

"Merlin, these ridiculous nicknames…"

None of the boys had realized the rest of the first years had fallen silent during their conversation, for an old witch had been standing in front of them.

"Excuse me, boys! I will not ask for your attention again!" the woman said, glaring at the boys.

James and Sirius looked up and pursed their lips in a thin line, doing all they could to not laugh. Remus, on the other hand, started to blush and muttered, "Sorry, Professor."

"Thank you," the old woman said, still glaring at James and Sirius. "Well, erm, let us assume I have just showed up now," she said, pausing slightly for effect. "Welcome to Hogwarts! (At this, James and Sirius snickered silently while Remus bit his lip to keep from laughing.) I am Professor McGonagall. We will soon proceed to the start of term feast, but before you do, you must be sorted into your houses.

"Your houses, whilst you are here, will be like your family. Everything you do will be together. There are four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own unique traits that have all brought great witches and wizards to this world. When here, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking and you will lose points.

"I hope that this years new students will be a great addition to their houses, as well as to this school. I will be back in a few moments, you all can chat quietly amongst yourselves."

McGonagall left room, leaving the students to turn and face each other.

"W-what will the sorting be like?" Peter said, his face paling once more.

"Blimey, Peter, you just put on a hat, I just said that. Calm down," Remus said, rolling his eyes.

"But in front of the whole school!"

"It'll be fine. We all have to do it," Remus said, adding silently to himself: if you continue to freak out, we won't be in the same house and I won't have to worry about you all any more.

James and Sirius had turned to face each other.

"And what house are you in, oh brave soul?" James asked, in a loud, powerful voice.

"Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!" Sirius yelled, grinning, pulling out an imaginary sword.

"Ah, let us see how far your strength and bravery goes!" James said, he too pulling out an imaginary sword.

But, by the time they had finished lifting their swords, McGonagall had walked back into the hall.

"We are ready for you now," McGonagall told the first years. "Gather in a line behind me, please."

Sirius and James slipped their 'swords' back into their pockets.

"We shall continue this war later," Sirius whispered. "If you dare."

"My soul isn't the one complaining, but it will be yours that'll back down."

Remus rolled his eyes at James' and Sirius' antics. They walked into the Great Hall, the ceiling bewitched, looking like the night sky. The stars could be seen twinkling, giving the illusion that they were in fact outside the building as opposed to inside a dining hall. Remus looked forward and saw the sorting hat, looking old and tattered. _Hogwarts: A History_ hadn't contained anything about the sorting hat other than the fact the founders made it, probably to keep the adrenaline up for students who had read the book.

The sorting hat broke into some sort of song describing the houses that was not something that Remus cared to hear. He saw in front of him that James and Sirius had in fact resumed their sword fight. It did go on hold once more when they saw McGonagall standing in front of them with a rather long scroll in her hand.

"Avery, Adonis!"

The hat rested upon Avery's head for a few seconds before shouting out, "SLYTHERIN!"

"Bertram, Aubrey!"

The hat decided to wait a good fifteen to twenty seconds before it yelled, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Oh Merlin help me," Sirius mumbled. "The B's are almost here."

"It'll be okay Sirius, calm down," James muttered, patting Sirius on the back.

"Black, Sirius!"

James gave Sirius a comforting pat on the back before Sirius slowly walked up to the hat. Sirius looked around, seeing his cousins on one end eagerly watching him, while seeing James, Peter, and Remus intently watching as well. He turned around and sat on the stool, jumping when he heard the hat's voice.

"Ah, a Black," the hat whispered.

Sirius recovered from his shock quickly. "I'd rather be called by my preferred name, Sirius, and if the need for the 'a' is there, then say a wizard or something like that."

The small voice chuckled, "Yes, I don't seem to see much Slytherin in you, much to reckless for that…"

"I agree," Sirius said, cutting the hat off.

"Hmm…Not Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw, you seem to possess the traits of a…GRYFFINDOR!"

Sirius grinned and took a bow before going to the Gryffindor table. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Bellatrix and Narcissa glaring at him, while Andromeda was politely clapping from the Ravenclaw table. As he passed James he said, "We may be destined to be together. All up to you mate, I did what I could."

James laughed and patted Sirius once more on the back, watching him go to the table.

"Catchlove, Greta!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

Remus started to zone out once more, there were so many people in line; he only listened every couple of minutes to check what letter they were on.

"Evans, Lily!"

James looked back and shared a look with Sirius. It was the red head that had ignored him when in the train.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Sirius chuckled as the red head flounced over to the Gryffindor table. She looked towards Severus, who seemed greatly disappointed. Sirius held out his hand towards the girl, who promptly turned away, in disgust.

"Gudgeon, Davey!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Hookum, Daisy!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Before Remus realized it, McGonagall had called, "Lupin, Remus!"

James glanced back at Sirius, who mouthed 'Remus', to which James nodded, both staring intently at the hat.

"Ooh," the hat said.

Remus jumped, "Erm, you can talk? Have you been talking to everyone else?"

"Ah, yes."

"Didn't say so in _Hogwarts: A History_, not that it mentioned much about you, no offense."

"None taken. But let's stay on topic here, shall we? I have never had to sort a werewolf before, you are the first to come to Hogwarts."

"Oh, that's great. Start classifying me as a monster before you even start to get to know me."

"I have said no such thing Remus Lupin. You're not Dark, considering that small outburst that takes away both Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Ah, I'm seeing Ravenclaw…"

"I'd agree sir. Put me there."

"Ah, yes, you do like to learn, but would you fit in?"

"The devil with fitting in!"

"And it seems you've made some friends…"

"Friends? I wouldn't classify them as friends…"

"One has already been placed in Gryffindor…"

"But Ravenclaw is the house for me."

"And you seem to have many endearing traits of a Gryffindor…"

"What are you on?"

"A young prankster…"

"No…a studious person who should be in Ravenclaw and not Gryffindor."

"You'll thank me for this later, Remus Lupin–"

"NO!" Remus shouted out milliseconds before the hat shouted "GRYFFINDOR!"

"DARN IT!" Remus yelled, slamming the hat on the stool. Several students seemed to look confused, but James and Sirius were cracking up.

"Nice work, Rems!" James said, smiling at Remus.

"Rems? Rems?" Remus asked hysterically. "It's Remus! You just learned it seconds ago! You will call me by that!"

James rolled his eyes as Remus continued to move forward. He sat down next to Sirius.

"Looks like we're gonna be roomies!" Sirius said, grinning.

"My enthusiasm in over the hills," Remus said dully.

"We're gonna be best friends!"

"No, we'll only be friends if James and Peter get in this house."

"Yeah well, they kinda will."

"Oh, I don't know about Peter, maybe he'll be Hufflepuff…"

"Keep dreaming Remmy."

"Remmy?" Remus asked, getting into a hysterical frenzy once more. "What kind of name is Remmy? Look, this is why I didn't tell you my name! Remmy! Don't butcher my name!"

"It's a nice nickname."

"Augh!"

"Oh I can't wait to spend seven years with you."

"I can't wait to graduate."

Sirius laughed, patting Remus on the back, who was staring intently at the McGonagall call out, "Pettigrew, Peter!"

"HUF—GRYFFINDOR!"

Remus stood up, "WHAT, you stupid hat! This is injustice! He was Hufflepuff I tell you, why did he get a second chance!"

"Remmy, sit down," Sirius said, trying to pull Remus down.

"DON'T BUTCHER MY NAME, SIRIUS!"

Peter happily skipped over the Remus and Sirius, giving James a high five before sitting down.

"Hey guys!" Peter said brightly.

Remus sat down, "Hey Peter."

"Potter, James!"

James walked up to the hat with confidence and a cheeky grin upon his face. The hat touched his head, but not before he blew a couple of fake kisses towards all the students.

"Yup, all…GRYFFINDOR!"

"NO!" Remus yelled.

James took off the hat and gently handed it to McGonagall, who gave him a small smile before James took a bow and ran off. He sat across from Sirius.

"Hey, looks like we're all gonna be friends now!"

Remus was continuously hitting his head against the table.

"You know, you may injure yourself if you keep doing that," Sirius said.

Remus looked up. "What do you think the goal of hitting my head was?"

"Er, to let off your frustration so you don't scream loud enough for the entire school to hear you and cause greater embarrassment to yourself and the others around you?" James said, with a playful smirk.

"Oh how do I get myself into these situations!" Remus moaned.

"Hey, you made the deal," Peter said.

"Yes, but if I hadn't I totally would've been a Ravenclaw."

"If I hadn't met you all, I would've probably been a Hufflepuff."

"If not for James, I'd be a Slytherin," Sirius piped up.

"Am I the only sane person who doesn't rely on someone else to determine their house?" James asked, with a lopsided grin.

Sirius pointed at the hat, "Look who it's sorting. Snivellus."

"It's taking an awful long time," James said.

"Yeah, almost as long as yours, Rems," Sirius pointed out, before promptly receiving an elbow in the stomach.

"SLYTHERIN!"

Severus looked at the Gryffindor table, eyeing the redhead before turning around and walking slowly to the Slytherin table.

"What's up with him?" James said, rather loudly.

Lily Evans huffed, "He's in Slytherin. What's it to you? Don't mock him behind his back. That's a sign of cowardice."

James looked at Lily and rolled his eyes. He then proceeded to continue to watch the sorting.

"Zabbler, Deb!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

**A/N: Thoughts? I hope you like their characterizations - I just love Remus! I just feel like he'd be that kid who gets himself into the most messed up situations...And yes, I know the Sorting Hat wouldn't do what it did for Peter (and if it were contemplating, it'd contemplate Slytherin) but I just had to crash Remus' hopes, wanted to see his reaction. As well, I want it to come as more of a shock when Peter betrays them...Peter is hard to write. I keep wanting some bus to roll over him or something, but I have to make him likable...**

**Even if you don't like the story and wish to criticize it, go ahead, it'll be helpful (well, don't just say it's bad, tell me why...). **

**SiriuslyLoopyDora - you are my new favorite reviewer. And your review was excellent. Thank you. And about the 'daddy', I just feel like Remus would be behind in what people normally call their parents because he didn't have many friends. And now he's got used to it. I think it's just adorable. The way they reference their parents tells parts about their home life.**

**pudding and Sunshine72 - Thank you for your reviews! Very supportive.**


	4. Speeches and Pillow Fights

**A/N: Hey again! Sorry, this is a bit of a short chapter, but there wasn't really anything more I could add in it...Plenty of hyper Marauders, and we get to meet Frank and Alice!**

**Oh, and it has been brought to my attention that there are some aspects of my story similar to a Fallen Crest's version...I would just like to let you all know that it is purely unintentional - I have not read those stories, and I have up to chapter 9 pretyped, so if there are any similarities, I truly am sorry. They are not intentional nor do I want to make my stories similar. I have now gone over some stories and I see the similarities (to which I am rather shocked - I'll just go with the quote that great minds think alike) and I can assure you that I will try and stop them as much as I can. Parts of it have already been written, and I don't really want to rewrite it (especially chapter 6, I've noticed) because I'll have to rewrite the rest of the chapters, and so I just wanted you all to know that I am TRULY sorry about it, and chapter 9 onwards, I'll take extra care to make sure that those similarities lessen (except, well, the butchering of the name. For that, I apologize, but taking it out will take out a huge chunk of my story, and that was my idea...). As the story goes on, I'll start to incorporate some AU ideas to keep my story extra original.**

McGonagall flicked her wand at the stool and the hat, which promptly flew out of the Great Hall, presumably into a broom closet. She then walked to the staff table, sitting in her usual spot next to Dumbledore. When McGonagall had sat down, Dumbledore stood up.

"Before you are to be filled with the start of feast food," Dumbledore said, seeming to make eye contact with everyone in the room at the same time. "I would like to say a few words. France is a wonderful place, I recommend you all visit some time. Bon appetit!"

The Great Hall burst into applause while a couple of students chuckled. Dumbledore clapped his hands twice as he sat down, revealing large quantities of food laying there in front of the students.

"There's so much to eat!" James exclaimed, eyeing all the food.

"Yeah," Sirius said, piling food on to his plate. "Where'd it all come from?"

James shrugged, "Magic."

Remus rolled his eyes, "The kitchens. The headmaster just summoned it."

"Oh," James said. "You now want to talk to us?"

"Do I have a choice?" Remus asked sarcastically.

"No, I'd suppose not, you can't break off the promise," James admitted.

Sirius swallowed the food he had filled his mouth with, "D'you reckon we could find the kitchens, James?"

"Well," James said. "I know it's probably forbidden for students."

"So?"

"We'd have a tough time finding it."

"But think of all what we can do!"

"I'm up for it! That's exactly what we'll do!"

Remus looked back and forth between James and Sirius, noticing the staging in the conversation.

"You guys are pranksters, aren't you?" he asked, dreading the answer.

Sirius took off a mock top hat and took a bow, "That we are. Sirius Black, notorious for pulling the first prank of the term."

James saluted, "James Potter, notorious for his confidence and creativity in all kinds of mischief."

Remus face palmed, "Oh, I knew this was going to end bad. Merlin, why are you against me?"

James and Sirius laughed, but noticed Remus hadn't taken much food.

"Hey, Rem–" Sirius said.

"It's Remus," Remus corrected, not amused in the slightest.

"—you haven't eaten anything," Sirius said, ignoring Remus.

"Not true," Remus said, glaring at the food. "I ate a piece of chicken."

"Take some more. It's free ya know."

"It's you," Remus corrected automatically.

Remus then looked around him, eyeing the food greedily. Truth be told, he was starving, but the fact he was no longer used to this much food stopped him from eating much. He picked up a bit of all the food and ate it in an orderly fashion, much unlike his new 'friends'.

"So anyway," James said, annoyed by the silence. "Are you ready for a fun-filled year?"

"Fun wasn't quite the word I was going for," Remus said, with a small smirk. "Busy, tiring, study-filled year would be more what I had prepared myself for."

Sirius rolled his eyes, "You say that now, just wait until we get to our dorm. It won't be possible to NOT have fun."

"And pranks can be rather addictive," James said.

"I'm sure Peter would be willing to agree, wouldn't you, Peter?" Sirius said, sending Peter a look.

"Oh yeah," Peter squeaked. "It's gonna be great."

Pranks. That was the last thing Remus needed a reminder for. He had spent the much of his life trying to forget about pranking, and instead, be the most hard-working person he could be.

"We'll see," Remus said, after hesitating. "But we'll probably be very busy."

That was true. The full moon was fast approaching, a little too soon in the year for Remus' liking. There was only a week left, and that would mean he'd have to take time to catch up on all of his homework. He would make sure to not leave any time left over for pranking. He would be a model student who would have no risk of expulsion.

The headmaster stood up from his chair while McGonagall tapped a goblet three times. Almost all the chatter had stopped, aside from the new Gryffindor first year boys.

"Well, nothin' like a good stress reliever," Sirius said, grinning.

James rolled his eyes, "Oh don't worry, young Remmy –"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"

"We'll mend you of your ways as soon as we –"

"Um, guys," Peter said timidly. "The entire school is, er, staring at us, and er…"

"MY WAYS DON'T NEED MENDING!" Remus yelled, causing all witnesses to plug their ears.

"Don't yell," Sirius said "You'll attract unwanted attention."

"Yeah," Peter said hastily. "About that. Look around."

Remus looked around and groaned. "Now look what you did."

"Us?" James said, with mock horror. "You're the one who thought it'd be a good idea to scream."

"It's all your fault."

"Erm," Peter said. "We are still…er…being watched…"

"Goodness," Sirius said. "No wonder you'll need to spend some time studying. Not exactly the smartest person, are ya?"

"Four things. One, I'm not dumb. Two, it's you, don't mess up the English language. Three, you forced me to yell," Remus said.

"Ah, but Rems," James said, and Remus clenched his teeth. "You –"

"And four – this one isn't for you," Remus said, standing up. "I apologize, headmaster. These three dunderheads wouldn't shut up—"

"I wasn't doing anything!" Peter interrupted.

"—Please excuse us and carry on with whatever you were doing."

"We're not dunderheads," Sirius said matter-of-factly. "You are."

"Yes, thank you Mr Black," Dumbledore said, with a twinkle of amusement in his eye. "Please sit down, Mr Lupin." Remus promptly sat down. "I do have a few more words I wish to have said earlier, but I daresay you all wished to be fed and watered.

"A reminder to all students that the Forbidden Forest indeed stays true to its name, and is forbidden to ALL students. Speaking of the forest, a new tree has been planted by Miss Pomona Sprout, known as the Whomping Willow," Dumbledore paused, glancing towards Remus. "I assure you that said tree will not hesitate to kill you, so you best not go near it."

Remus looked towards James, Sirius, and Peter.

"Why would they plant a fatal tree no one can go near?"

Sirius and Peter shrugged as James said, "Beats me."

"Mr Filch – for you first years, he is our caretaker – has also reminded me to mention that magic is NOT to be used in the corridors at any time. Speaking of Mr Filch, for those of you who wish to see the objects that are banned, it is posted on Mr Filch's office door.

"And now that all these notices are out of the way, let us sing the school song! Pick a tune, any tune, and start to sing the words that appear," Dumbledore finished enthusiastically, while a couple of the teachers let out small groans.

The entire school broke into song, though singing different tunes:

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,

Teach us something please,

Whether we be old and bald,

Or young with scabby knees,

Our heads could do with filling

With some interesting stuff,

For now they're bare and full of air,

Dead flies and bits of stuff," (Remus had started to frown and look incredulously at the lyrics)

"So teach us things worth knowing,

Bring back what we've forgot,

Just do your best, we'll do the rest,

And learn until our brains all rot."

Peter had mumbled through all the lyrics like majority of the school and waited for the others to finish. Eventually, Remus, James, and Sirius were left singing. The students chuckled, none of them liking the prospect of singing the song, but the enjoyment was when the first years sang normally and ended up last to finish.

Remus had been singing melodiously at a slow pace, but soon realized he was one of the only ones singing, so he rushed through the rest of the song. James and Sirius, however, seemed to be enjoying the attention and sang in an opera voice. Terribly. Remus made a mental note to not let the two attention-seekers sing within his earshot again.

James and Sirius finished and took a bow, and James blew some more kisses before being yanked down by Sirius. Remus could hear some of the whispers between the older girls:

"Aw…he's so adorable!"

"He's such a cutie-pie!"

Remus gave a chuckle as he wondered of James' reaction to the comments he was receiving.

"Whatcha laughin' at?" Sirius asked.

"Me, er, nothing…" Remus said, attempting to sound casual.

"Nuh uh," Sirius said. "Not buyin' it."

Remus chose to ignore the content of what Sirius was saying, as well as the stares they were receiving once more.

"You should remember to put the 'g' at the end of the 'ing' words," Remus said, annoyed.

"Why must I be puttin' those 'g's at the endin' of my words?"

"So you don't mess up the English language!"

"You should be calmin' down now, Remmy…"

Remus took a deep breath, "It's okay, he's just being obnoxious…"

"Oi! I'm right here!"

Remus looked at Sirius, "You want to know someth_ing_ else about you?"

"What?" Sirius said enthusiastically.

"You've a horrible singing voice."

"WHAT?" Sirius shouted. "You're one to talk!"

"My voice, I'm sure the rest of the hall would reckon, is sooth_ing_."

"Huh, well, no proof, as you rushed through the entire song."

Remus started to blush. "You were just being obnoxiously slow."

"Yeah, well, you –"

The hall was watching this exchange, amused. Suddenly, James got up on top of the table.

"EVERYONE! SHUT UP!"

Remus and Sirius stopped bickering immediately. Sirius burst into laughter when he saw the school staring at him again while Remus groaned into his hands.

"Thank you," James said, before getting of the table.

Lily had shot him a disapproving look, which he promptly ignored. Instead, he plopped down next to his Peter and hollered, "YOU'RE WELCOME, PROFESSOR!"

Dumbledore let out a chuckle while McGonagall looked forward, not amused in the slightest.

"Why do I have to end up with the pranksters, AGAIN?" McGonagall moaned.

"Well, Minerva, I don't see how you can tell these boys are pranksters."

"But Albus, I can just feel the vibe, you know…"

"Well, it would be, as the muggles say, karma…"

McGonagall groaned and buried her face in her hands. All the students had been watching this exchange in amusement, but James stood back up on top of the table.

"WHAT WAS THE POINT OF ME SHUTTING EVERYONE UP IF YOU'RE TOO BUSY BEING ALL LOVEY DOVEY?"

"James!" Remus said. "Shut up!"

"YOU SHUT UP!" James shouted, grinning. "ALL, YOU ARE DISMISSED AND WE MUST BE LED TO OUR HOUSE ROOMS, IN CASE YOU'VE FORGOTTEN PROFESSOR DUMBLEDORE!"

The hall chortled while McGonagall flushed a bright red. Dumbledore motioned towards James to get down from the table and started to speak.

"As Mr Potter so kindly pointed out, I would like the sixth year prefects to lead their house to their dormitories. Now, hup hup! Schedules will be given out tomorrow. Good night!"

The First Years got up and started to follow their prefects. However, the Gryffindor prefects waited until everyone else had left.

"Oi!" Sirius called. "Why we not leavin'?"

"…ing," Remus corrected half-heartedly.

The two prefects looked at each other.

"It was the noble thing to do," the girl said, with a small smile.

"Only showing Gryffindor traits," the boy said.

"Anyway –" the girl started.

"IS IT TRUE YOU AND FRANK ARE NOW DATING?" a sixth year from the back of the students asked.

The girl blushed, while the boy grabbed the girl's hand, "Alice Fortescue and I are officially dating."

There was a collective sigh of relief.

"Finally they've decided to make contact."

"It's been so obvious!"

"I'm calling it now. They're going to marry!"

Frank joined Alice in blushing a furious shade of red.

"Okay all, that's enough," Frank said. "As amazing as this piece of gossip is for you lot…I must say, I expected more from you boys, getting involved in goss—"

"Oh honestly, Frank!" Alice said, regaining her voice. "We are going to show you to the Gryffindor common room. Follow us."

The Gryffindors started to leave the Great Hall. James and Sirius, however, did not hesitate to pull back out their imaginary swords.

"Oh for the love of Merlin!" Remus exclaimed. "Stop with the bloody sword nonsense!"

The two other boys seemed to deliberately ignore Remus and carried on fighting.

"Surrender!" James yelled, pointing his sword at Sirius.

"Why, if you wanted to surrender, you should have said so sooner," Sirius said, blocking James' sword.

"NEVER!"

Peter seemed to be enjoying this sword fight. He stayed back, cheering the other team on. "James, spike it through the chest! Ooh, Black, guard…nice save!"

Remus stepped in between the two boys.

"And it seems that the Lupin boy is suicidal, walking in between such a heated fight…" Peter said.

"Shut up, you lot! We have to get to the common room!" Remus said, holding his hands over the invisible swords.

James and Sirius paused from their game and looked towards the exit.

"Oh, we seem to have fallen behind," James said.

Remus looked back at the archway and saw that no one was there.

"Now look what you've done," Remus groaned, although he could still hear the chatter of students. "Let's just run and catch up."

The four of them sped walked out of the Great Hall and into a deserted corridor, lit by small torches.

"Hurry up!" Remus said, looking back as he ran through what felt as a cold shower. "Augh! What's that?" he said, turning face to face with a transparent man.

The ghost brushed himself off and looked at the four students appraisingly, "Why aren't you with the rest of the group?"

"Well, you see –" Remus started, ready to blame the other three.

"You're a ghost, aren't you?" Sirius blurted out.

"Why, er, yes I am," the ghost said, seeming affronted.

"What's your name?"

"Will you listen to me?" Remus shouted, frustrated. "I'm only here –"

James had promptly covered Remus' mouth, letting Sirius continue to converse with the ghost.

"I'm Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington," the ghost said. "But Sir Nicholas will do just as well."

"Blimey!" James said without thinking. "You're Nearly Headless Nick! My dad told me all about you!"

"I'd prefer Sir Nicholas, as I believe I have just told you," Nick said bitterly.

Remus moaned and licked James' hand.

"Ew! You licked me!"

"Yes, yes, I think I did," Remus said, turning to face Nick. "Excuse us, sir, but we really are running behind."

"Ah yes," Nick said. "That'd be a good idea. I've to go find Peeves anyway, you better hurry before he finds you."

"Who's Peeves?" Peter asked as Nicholas disappeared down the corridor.

"No idea," Remus said. "But we should go before they notice we're gone!"

"Right," James said. "Follow me!"

James bolted down the corridor.

"Hey, follow me!" Sirius retorted, sprinting to get ahead of James.

Remus worked himself into a small jog while Peter panted by his side. Wanting to catch up to James and Sirius, Remus grabbed Peter's hand and sped up next to the two leading students. He slowed back down into a jog, and breathed a sigh of relief when he caught sight of the marching students.

"And now," Frank said. "We are going to use the staircases," he paused as the students laughed. "But, these are not normal staircases. They, in fact, do not stand still."

Alice smacked Frank playfully, "Yes, Frank, they're not four. The staircases like to change, so be wary."

"I can't believe we finally caught up," Sirius panted. "Felt like a lifetime away."

"You really need to get more fit," Remus said, rolling his eyes.

"How," James said, breathing heavily. "In Merlin's name, are you not panting?"

"More fit then you, I guess," Remus said, careful not to answer to quickly.

Sirius clapped him on the back, "Hey, wanna join are invisible sword fighting game?"

Remus' eyes went wide, "No. No way are you starting that again now. Wait until we get back into our dorms, remember last time what happened?"

"Okay, okay, relax," James said. "Now come on, or you'll make us fall behind again."

"Hey, I didn't make you fall behind last time!"

"Guys!" Peter said, pushing them forward. "Stop arguing and get a move on!"

Sirius chuckled and pushed ahead of the three of them. Remus and James smiled sheepishly and followed along with Peter.

As they approached a portrait, Frank and Alice stopped the Gryffindors once more.

"Oh come on!" One of the boys shouted. "We're tired and sick of being noble! Let us in the sodding room already!"

Frank and Alice smiled.

"Sorry," Alice said, gloating. "We're the prefects and have complete control over you—"

"Excuse me!" A girl yelled. "I happen to be head girl, Alice!"

"Yeah, well," Alice stumbled, flustered.

"You don't know the password. Thus, in this instance, we have power over you," Frank said.

"Now," Alice continued, as if nothing had happened. "This here is the Fat Lady."

"That's a bloody fabulous name," Sirius muttered, a little too loud perhaps, since all the Gryffindors turned towards him. "What? That was a compliment."

They sniggered.

"SHE IS THE GUARDIAN OF THE TOWER," Alice said, raising her voice over the chatter. Everyone instantly turned back to face her. "Thank you. Well, if you tell her the password, she will open up and you can walk in."

"Augh!" James said, wincing. "What kind of sentence is that?"

"Good Merlin, get your head out of the gutter!" Alice said, grimacing.

"Well," Frank continued. "Keep the password I am going to say a secret, and don't forget it. Or else you'll have to sleep outside. Okay, so, the password is—"

"Hold it!" Alice interrupted. "I want to give the password."

"But I was already about to say it…"

"But it'll give me joy, Franky…"

"Don't call me Franky, Ali!"

"Well, you called me Ali!"

"Only after you did."

"No, I said you were –"

"OH MY GOODNESS!" Remus screamed. "Will one of you just open the bloody door already?"

"I'll do it," Frank said immediately.

"What kind of gentle—"

"Ti—"

"No wait!"

"TIDDLY WIGS!" they shouted together.

The portrait opened up while all the Gryffindor stared at Alice and Frank in silence.

"Well," James said, breaking the silence. "You know what they say about people who say things at the same time: they're soul mates."

At this, Remus was unsure whether Frank or Alice's face would ever revert to their normal colour.

"Er," Frank said.

"Erm," Alice said.

"OH FOR GOODNESS SAKES! I AM HEAD GIRL AND FORCE ALL YOU STUDENTS INTO THAT COMMON ROOM. BOY'S DORMS ARE UP THE STAIRS TO THE LEFT WHILE GIRLS ARE TO THE RIGHT. HUP HUP!"

The Gryffindors all rushed through the door and passed a blushing Frank and Alice, who saw it opportune to start snogging.

"Oh, bloody hell," Sirius said, starting towards the couple. "We get it, you're soul mates, but surely you want to do this inside?"

The couple took no notice of Sirius.

Sirius charged in between the two of them and knocked them away from each other. "Alright! Break it up!"

Frank and Alice stared at Sirius in awe.

"Go," Frank said at last. "Just go."

"Will do, Mr Franky!"

Sirius rushed into the tower, James, Peter, and Remus right on his tail. They ran up the stairs and entered through a wooden door on the left labeled: First Years.

"That's us!" Sirius said, sounding oddly ecstatic.

"I call this bed," Peter said, choosing a bed closest to the window.

Remus immediately rushed to the other side of the room. "Dibs on this bed." There was no way he would be sleeping next to Peter.

Sirius got what Remus was doing and ran to the bed next to Remus, trying to get there before James.

"I CALL THAT BED," Sirius shouted, hoisting himself upon the bed.

James groaned, "Urg, well, I get that bed."

"Ya know, I'm not tired," Sirius said matter-of-factly, looking oddly jumpy.

"Nor am I…" James said. "Let's continue our fight."

"Yeah!" Peter said enthusiastically. "Oh, and I'm not tired either."

Remus groaned. His sensitive hearing wasn't making this situation any better for him.

"En garde!" James yelled.

"Oh, I'm glad you are, James," Sirius said with a cheeky grin.

Then they started to make clanking sounds with their invisible swords. Not just any clanking noise. Loud ones. Loud to the human ear, let alone the werewolf ear.

"I will not overreact," Remus Lupin muttered to himself. "I will not overreact. These are good people. I will no – oh sod it!"

Remus got up from his bed and yanked a pillow from Sirius' bed and threw it against the said boy's head. Hard.

"Ow, what the…REMUS! What didja throw at – a pillow?" Sirius said incredulously. "It felt so much—"

"SHUT UP!" Remus screamed.

James did not bother to hide his laughter. "He…got hit…pillow!"

"Oh haha," Sirius said, not amused. Instead, he saw fit to grab the pillow from the ground and whip it against James, who instantly stopped laughing.

"No sodding way did you just do that," James said menacingly as he walked over to his bed grabbing a pillow.

James whipped the pillow against Sirius, and Sirius followed suit. They started to laugh and carve out weird insults again. Peter was very excited, in fact, he looked as if he wanted to pee in his pants. Remus, however, was not happy with the noise. He grabbed the pillow from his bed, marched right over to James and Sirius, and whipped them with his pillow.

"Shut the bloody hell up," Remus said.

Sirius had a reckless, audacious, mischievous grin on his face and whipped Remus with his pillow. Not knowing what to do, Remus hit back, and then it turned into a full-fledged pillow fight. Remus couldn't remember ever having so much fun in his life. He continued to fight, laughing. Peter had joined in, and the four of them fought. The pillows had started to slightly fall apart and the feathers were beginning to line the floor. But no one stopped; this was the sort of things that friends did in their dorms.

**A/N: I'm pretty sure in one of Rowling's interviews she said Alice's maiden name was Fortescue, although if it wasn't then that's AU. As the story progresses, I will probably change some facts and make it my own (like I did with Remus' birthday) to make sure that I stay interested in writing it. Unless you'd prefer I stick directly with canon. But I won't know unless you review so please review guys. I know you're there...I've got like one reviewer right now, and it's making me REALLY sad (although she is amazing) because I want to hear the rest of your opinions. Trust me, I'll try to incorporate the ideas you give me. **


	5. Peevsie and Sirius Orion Black

**A/N: And here we are! The next chapter! And, don't think me as a bad person, but I am quite proud I managed to hold off an update for more than two days. I do have to save some chapters lead in case, Merlin forbid, I get writer's block, but ANYWHO, the next chapter!**

**Chapter 5: Peevesie and Sirius Orion Black**

Sirius was the first one awake. He looked around him. Peter was snoring loudly, James appeared to be tossing and turning, and Remus had his curtains drawn. With a small smirk, Sirius made his way over to James, ready to peel off the covers. Unfourtunately for Sirius, James' eyes snapped open.

"S-Sirius?" James said, stifling a yawn.

"Oh, you're awake," Sirius said, a little glum. "Well, good morning sunshine."

"Good morning…Sunshine?...You were going to wake me in a horrific way, weren't you?"

"Well, er, yes. But there's still snoring-Peter and Remmy."

James pouted, "This is so not fair that you got to the other bed first. I started there before you!"

"Yeah, well, with your scrawny body figure—"

"I am so not scrawny."

"Er, James, I hate to break it to you, but you kind of are."

"I AM NOT SCRAWNY!"

Sirius flinched and Peter sat up in his bed, "Wus goin' on?"

Sirius let out a visible groan, "Oh now look. I can't even wake up Peter."

"Thank you, James," Peter said, looking very grateful. "I can't even imagine what Sirius would've done to wake me."

"Probably would've dumped water on you or flipped over your—"

"Shut up, James!" Sirius said, freaking out. "Stop talking, I want to wake up Remmy."

"Can I help?" Peter asked.

"Yeah, let's torture him as much as physically possible."

Peter and James got out of bed and drew the curtains to reveal a sleeping Remus. He had a small smile on his face; he looked rather peaceful. James stepped up to Remus first.

"Hey, Rems, time to wake up. First day of classes."

Remus moaned and turned over.

"Um, Remus," Peter said, starting to pull off the covers. "It's time to wake up."

Instead of waking up, Remus clutched his covers tighter. Peter stepped forward to push Remus out of his bed, but James stopped him.

"Have you no sense?"

"What?" Peter said, pausing.

"He looks so weak, almost ill. Just be gentle."

James and Peter looked towards Sirius, who gave smirk, his eyes full of mischief. Then, without further notice, he grabbed the bottom of Remus' mattress and flipped it over, knocking Remus to the floor.

"Ow," Remus moaned, his eyes fluttering open.

"You fool!" James muttered. "Did you not hear me comment on how fragile Remus looks?"

"I AM NOT FRAGILE!" Remus said, glaring at James. "Who knocked me off?"

James and Peter immediately pointed to Sirius, who gave a sheepish grin.

"Well, sir sleepyhead, I figured you would want to go to breakfast with us."

"Sir…sir…do you know what time it is?" Remus asked hysterically.

"Yeah, it's 5:15—"

"5:15?" Remus said, his voice getting higher. "What the hell, Sirius, I want to sleep."

"Yeah, but I'm hungry and I thought you'd want time to get ready."

"Just go on without me," Remus mumbled, getting back onto his bed.

Truth be told, Remus had a great time last night with his roommates. However, this was exactly what he had been trying to avoid. He did not want to deal with having new friends. It would be a one way ticket to getting his secret discovered, which would further lead to abandonment.

Sirius shrugged at James, who then stepped forward.

"Nuh uh, Rems, friends are supposed to eat together."

"Okay, fine, I'll meet you there," Remus said, rolling his eyes.

"You are not getting into that bed," Sirius said, jumping onto Remus' bed.

"Oh great. Sirius germs." Sirius took mock offense. "Look, I'll meet you there, no need to wait for me."

"Look, Remmy," Sirius said.

"ReMUS," Remus said, rolling his eyes.

"You didn't correct James though," Sirius said, and Remus hit his head. "Besides, ReMUS doesn't seem to flow very well."

"You're just making it not flow well," Remus grumbled.

"Rems, do you know how to get to the Great Hall?" James asked.

"No, only because you two prats disrupted me."

"What about me?" Peter asked, looking a bit hurt.

Remus stared at Peter for a couple of seconds, "Do you want to be referenced to as a prat?" Peter didn't answer. "I was doing you a favour, but if it makes you feel better, PETER THE PRAT was excessively disruptive as well."

Sirius and James seemed to find this situation amusing and chuckled. James sobered up before Sirius and continued what he was saying.

"Well, we don't remember the way to the Great Hall either, so we thought it'd be better if friends get lost together."

Remus' eyes widened as he remembered last night's events, "No. No way. I refuse to get lost with you."

"Oh c'mon Rems. You know we aren't going to leave you."

"It's—"

"Ah well. At least he's up. Oh and Remus, you forgot to correct James again," Sirius said, sending a cheeky grin in Remus' direction.

"I was correcting him until you interrupted," Remus said, nevertheless getting up and going into the bathroom.

"HEY!" Sirius said, jumping up. "I wanted the bathroom first!"

Peter laughed and James looked at Sirius, "Mate, there were plenty of opportunities for you to use the bathroom beforehand."

Sirius groaned, "This is the thank you I get for being helpful.

When Remus came out of the bathroom, Sirius dashed in. Remus stared at where Sirius had been for a few seconds before grabbing his clothes and shutting the curtains around his bed.

"Yeah, erm, about Sirius he…" James trailed off as he turned around and noticed Remus wasn't in sight. "Oh guh-reat Rems, you better not be sleeping," James said, walking towards Remus' bed.

"I'M CHANGING, DON'T PULL THE CURTAINS!"

"Oh okay, Merlin, chill," James said, putting his hands in the air in defeat. "What is taking Sirius so long? Classes start at 9, and we NEED to get to breakfast."

"Well, we still have like three hours…," Peter said. "And Sirius was mumbling about his hair not too long ago."

"Augh! Although, I'd probably be doing the same if my hair would do something."

"It is doing something," Remus said, drawing open the curtains and straightening his tie. "It's sticking up."

"Oh hahaha," James said, rolling his eyes. "Hey, why were you changing behind the curtains anyway? We're all boys, ya know."

Remus blushed, "Sorry, just don't feel that comfortable."

"Uh huh," James said as Sirius walked out of the bathroom. Peter rushed in before James could have done anything. "Oh damn it. Anyway, what's with you and your mood swings?"

"Mood swings?" Sirius asked, turning around while changing. "Isn't that supposed to be, like, a girl thing?"

Remus widened his eyes. "NO! I mean yes mood swings are a girl thing but I'm not having them." Sirius merely raised his eyebrows and Remus groaned, "Oh great. Now look what you did, James."

James laughed, "You really need to start owning up to your mistakes."

Remus rolled his eyes and flopped onto the bed, "Oh god, it's 6:00. Honestly, Sirius, how long does it take for you to comb your hair?"

"Excuse me," Sirius said, putting his hands on his hips. "My hair is awesome and it needs to be tended to."

Remus let out a cough that sounded strangely like, "Girl."

"I'll have you know that I am not a girl!" Sirius said, walking over to Remus. "I don't have any mood swings."

"Oh honestly, just put on a shirt," Remus said.

"Again, with the bloody mood swings," Sirius muttered, slipping on a white shirt.

James, right now, was banging on the door, "PETER! STOP TAKING SO LONG! I HAVE TO USE THE BATHROOM TOO! AND THEN THERE'S BREAKFAST!"

"I'm so sorry James!" Peter said through the door. "But I'm doing number two…"

Sirius guffawed and Remus fell onto the floor. James, on the other hand, turned a furious shade of red.

"God Peter, I didn't need to know that."

Peter thought it wise not to reply. Sirius eyed James playfully.

"I didn't know...haha…that you had a…haha…thing for Peter," Sirius said.

"Shut up! I can't think clearly when I need to pee!"

Sirius stared at James in disbelief while Remus laughed even harder.

"That's good to know, mate, but please, spare me the details," Sirius said.

James had gone even redder, but kept his mouth tightly shut. There was no need for him to blurt out anything more embarrassing things.

Peter opened the bathroom door, a slight bit of red on his cheeks. Before Peter could exit the doorway, James ran towards the bathroom and knocked Peter over. James lay on top of Peter, going even more red than he was before.

"Aw, James," Remus said, trying to keep a straight face. "If you swing that way, you have no reason to hide it from us."

"I do not…oh just forget it. Sorry Peter," James said, standing up. Peter looked at James oddly before going to his trunk.

"James is gay?"

Remus and Sirius broke into a hysterical laughter and didn't look like they were planning on stopping. Three minute later, James walked out of the bathroom and watched Sirius and Remus laughing on the floor while Peter just looked at them oddly.

"Er, what happened Peter?"

"Nothing, I was just wondering if you were gay," Peter explained matter-of-factly.

James widened his eyes, "I AM NOT GAY!"

Remus looked up at James with wide eyes, "Sorry, it was just the situation."

Sirius stood up and put his arm around James' shoulder, "We don't really think you're gay. We're your friends. So just go and change."

James looked at Sirius for a couple of seconds before changing. Remus paced around the dorm room.

"What's wrong, Remmy?" Sirius asked.

"First off, it's Remus—"

"Why do you only correct me and not James?" Sirius said, pouting.

"Sorry," Remus said as he turned to face James. "IT'S REMUS, JAMES, NOT REMS!"

James turned around and looked at Remus, confused. "Erm, my apologies?"

Remus wasn't paying attention and had turned to face Sirius, "There you go. And look, he apologized!"

"Sorry, Remmy," Sirius said.

"AUGH!" Remus said, hitting his head against his bedpost repeatedly.

Peter had a small smirk on his face as he stepped away from Remus. "If I didn't know better, with these mood swings, I'd think that he was a girl."

Remus glared at Peter and took a couple of deep breaths. James tied his tie and clapped Peter on the back while Sirius let out a bark of laughter.

"Alright, whatever you want to think, think," Remus said. "I'm sure all of my _peers_ will be talking behind my back anyway."

"Woah, woah, woah!" James said, jumping in front of Remus. "We're only kidding, and plus, we're your FRIENDS!"

"Oh right. I forgot."

"What do you mean, you forgot? Oh whatever. Sirius, Peter, come on, we have to find the Great Hall."

"I can't believe we're leaving at 6:30," Remus grumbled. "I should be sleeping."

"Sleep's no fun, Remmy!" Sirius said gleefully. "I have a feeling this is going to be a very fun day!"

"Yipee..." Remus said.

The four students made their way along the corridors, until they were met by an odd looking creature. It seemed like a ghost, but it was brightly coloured and seemed transparent yet opaque at the same time.

"Ooh, ickle firsties looking for the Great Hall?" the ghost thing said.

"Who are you?" James asked, eyeing the ghost thing.

"Peeves the Poltergeist. Ickle firsties names?"

"I'm James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew," James said, pointing at each of the boys respectively.

"Ooh, Potty Wee Potter talks to Peevsie!"

"Look, we're looking for the Great Hall," Remus said.

"Loony Loopy Lupin wishes to speak to Peevsie! Loony Loopy Lupin has yet to share—"

"Shut up!"

"Loopy Lupin has Peevsie's apologies, Peevsie was not thinking, Peevsie wishes to show forgiveness by pointing out the direction of breaky breakfast."

The poltergeist pointed in the opposite direction they had been coming from.

"Thank you," Sirius said. "We would've never got to breakfast if we hadn't bumped into you."

The quartet turned around and made their way down the hall for a while. They walked. And walked. And walked. Suddenly, Remus hit his head against the wall.

"What the hell, Remus!" James said, staring at Remus. "What happened?"

"The guy's name was Peeves. PEEVES!"

"Er, so?" Peter asked.

"PEEVES! PEEVES! As in pet peeve! As in troublesome peeve! As in annoying peeves!"

Sirius stared at Remus blankly. "You came across all these conclusions in that one conversation?"

"Honestly! To peeve is a verb. He is probably named Peeves because he annoys people, or PEEVES people! The Great Hall was never this far. Peeves sent us in the wrong direction!"

Recognition dawned over the three boys' faces.

"We've been pranked!" James said in horror.

"Sirius Black is not supposed to get pranked!" Sirius said, also in horror.

Peeves floated in towards the four boys.

"Peevsie heard his name from the Loopy!"

"Yes, that's great Peeves," Remus said bitterly.

"Hey, you didn't correct Peeves' nickname for you either!" Sirius exclaimed, staring at Remus. "Why do you hate me so?"

Remus rolled his eyes while James clenched his jaw.

"You pranked us. I'd be on the lookout if I were you, Peeves. You pranked the wrong people."

Peeves stared at James while Remus pushed them all in the opposite direction.

"It was nice to meet you, Peeves!" Remus called over his shoulder.

The four boys ran into the Great Hall at 7:00. There were NO people sitting there.

"Well," Sirius said, while the other three stared at the empty hall in awe. "At least we won't be missing breakfast."

"HEY!" Remus said, staring at Sirius. "You remembered the 'g'! I knew what you did yesterday was just to annoy me!"

Sirius chuckled and continued to walk to the table. "Ah, breakfast, the most important meal of the day."

Sirius started to set his plate up with a bit of everything while Peter was more of a grab and eat over his plate kind of person. James grabbed a couple of things and then started to eat them. Remus took a piece of toast and an egg.

"Is that honestly all you're gonna eat?" Sirius asked, stuffing his face with food.

"Yeah…?" Remus answered, eyeing Sirius with distaste.

The teachers had walked into the Great Hall at 7:15.

"Oh great!" McGonagall said, staring at the four boys. "What did you all do? Why are you here so early? You set up a prank, didn't you?"

"Woah, professor, easy on the questions," Sirius said, swallowing his food. "We didn't set up anything, but we didn't expect to get here so early. Peeves tried to set us down the wrong track, but luckily, Remus here has a brain—"

"LUCKILY?" Remus said, abashed. "I WORKED TO GET MY BRAIN!"

"Sorry Remmy—"

"Excuse me?"

"Sorry, ReMUS, but you never correct anyone else, honestly, but…ANYWAY professor, Remus worked it out that Peeves was tricking us when he thought about his name…"

McGonagall gave a small smile in Remus' direction. Remus smiled back and turned back to face his food.

"Er, professor," Peter said, timidly. "When does the post come in?"

"8:00, most students come in at 7:45, honestly…"

"Can the post, like, um, come, like, at, like 7:44?" Sirius asked, his face growing red.

"But it's tradition!" Dumbledore jumped into the conversation enthusiastically. "Surely you'd want to receive your mail with everyone else?"

"Professor?" James said, speaking for the first time. "I forgot to write to my parents and tell them what house I'm in…."

"Don't worry Mr Potter," McGonagall said. "I wrote to all of the Gryffindor parents what house the students are in. The heads of houses for everyone else also wrote to the parents."

Sirius groaned, "This was just what I feared."

"Siri, what's wrong?" James asked, concern etched in all over his face.

"Call me Sirius," Sirius mumbled, while Remus tried to hide a smirk. "And I think I'm going to get a howler."

"It can't be that bad. No woman has a pair of lungs like my mum. And that's not too bad in a howler."

"Whatever you say, James."

Students began to file in. Lily Evans had walked in with Severus Snape, which James openly showed his disgust when he stood up.

"OI Evans! Why are you fraternizing with the enemy?"

"The enemy?" Lily asked, staring at James. "Houses don't determine anything, I'm all for House UNITY!"

"Oh, let me have a go at him," Snape said, his eyes filled with anger.

"No, Sev. Two wrongs don't make a right."

Severus glared at James, but didn't take any action. James smirked as he sat down. Lily sat down with her roommates: Mary McDonald, Marlene Price, and Donna Shacklebolt.

"You know, Potter," Lily spat out James' name with disgust. "You have no morals. As a Gryffindor, I would've expected better."

James rolled his eyes, unable to think of a clever comeback.

The owls soon began to pour in through the hall when all the students were seated. Every student was dropped off with letters and things they had forgot at their house. At 8:05, a lone owl flew in, carrying a red envelope. Students were mumbling all over the hall.

"Who got the howler?"

"Beats me, must have done something bad."

"We would've seen it."

"Might've painted the house or something…"

Sirius stared at the dreaded howler, which came in all on its own, which seemed eager for the attention. The howler fell in front of him and the chatter all stopped. Everyone stared at the howler, waiting for Sirius to open it.

"Blimey, Sirius," James said. "I didn't think you were serious when you said your parents would send you a howler."

"But James," Sirius said, trying to sound light-hearted. "I AM Sirius."

"Oh honestly, what a pathetic pun. Just open the letter."

Sirius brought his trembling hands towards the letter, contemplating running out of the Great Hall. But he couldn't do that. He was sorted into Gryffindor, and a Gryffindor wouldn't run away. So he peeled the letter open and drew back his hands, staring at the letter.

"SIRIUS ORION BLACK!" Walburga's voice echoed the hall. "HOW DARE YOU GET SORTED INTO GRYFFINDOR?"

"I didn't mean to, honest, it's just who I am," Sirius mumbled under his breath.

"HOW COULD YOU LET THE HAT SEE YOU AS A GRYFFINDOR? I MUST ORDER YOU TO GO TO SLYTHERIN, WHERE YOU BELONG! I WILL TAKE YOU OUT OF SCHOOL! YOU ARE A TERRIBLE THING, AND YOU HAVE BETRAYED THE BLACK FAMILY! THERE YOU ARE, READY TO START BEFRIENDING MUDBLOODS AND HALF BLOODS AND BLOOD TRAITORS, JUST LIKE YOU! TOUJOURS PUR, REMEMBER, BUT YOU FORGOT IT AT A CRUCIAL TIME!"

Sirius stared at the letter, not moving a muscle.

"THIS WAS WHAT YOU WANTED TO HEAR? BLOOD TRAITOR! AND LOOK, REGULUS HAS COME INTO THE ROOM, AND HE IS DISAPPOINTED. HE CRIED IN HIS ROOMS FOR _HOURS_ SIRIUS, FOR YOU, AND YOU COULDN'T GIVE HIM THE COMPANY HE WILL WANT IN SLYTHERIN! REGULUS WANTS TO TELL YOU SOMETHING…"

Sirius cringed when he heard his little brother's name.

"Sirius…" Regulus' soft voice filled the room, and many of the students gasped. "I thought you wanted to be together forever. But now you are a blood traitor. I am forbidden to send you any letters. Why did you get sorted into Gryffindor? All the Mudbloods will try to befriend you, and you will be blasted off the tree," Regulus' voice had started to crack. "Siri, you let me down…"

Sirius' eyes started to water, his face contorted, however, into one full of hatred.

"DID YOU HEAR YOUR BROTHER? BLOOD TRAITOR! NO SON OF MINE SHOULD EVER BE SORTED INTO GRYFFINDOR! I DON'T WANT YOU TO COME HOME AND BE A BAD INFLUENCE OF REGULUS! STAY THERE FOR WINTER AND SPRING BREAK! WE DON'T WANT YOU!"

The letter ripped itself into little pieces, and the students continued to stare at Sirius, who started to look very uncomfortable. James rushed to start to comfort Sirius, while Remus stood on top of the table.

"HONESTLY! DON'T YOU HAVE BETTER THINGS TO DO THAN TO OGLE AT SIRIUS? HE'S NOT THAT HANDSOME! GO BACK TO YOUR BUSINESS!"

Everyone promptly began to eat as the corners of Sirius' mouth twitched. Remus got down from the table.

"Well," James said, trying to diffuse the tension. "One thing's been settled. Your mum has certainly surpassed my mum in lung volume."

Sirius' face broke out into a grin.

**A/N: This chapter is probably not as creative as some of my others...I mean the Howler though had to be expected, right? And I've given Peter some sort of character! I'm rather pleased with myself, to be honest...And yes, Regulus was very honest in talking to Sirius. I feel terrible for him, he's having so much internal conflict right now. And by the way, if you think the gay jokes are insulting in any way, I'm very sorry, they're not meant to be, and I've nothing against gays, they're just a bunch of eleven year old boys, these sort of things would probably occur in their minds. I'll stop if someone tells me to, though...**

**And now, to thank my two reviewers (kind of pathetic number, ain't it? Oh well, I'd continue to update just for those two reviewers if need be...):**

**Bubbling Chaos: Yo! Thank you for your review! On both my stories, actually...Baby Prongslet will be updated soon...anyway, I'm glad you're liking the characters! Well, yeah, and I'd agree with you on Peter as well, I might just get a hippogriff...hmm...nice idea...who knows, I might get cold feet when it comes to the betrayal part...Meh. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.**

**SiriuslyLoopyDora: And my only regular reviewer! Thanks! And you're right, I have already written the DADA teacher, but I'll have the mean one come in later...plus, the curse is going to start in their Third Year, unless you think differently? What are your opinions (yes, this is to all of you)? By the way, Fortescue is the last name of the dude who runs the ice cream parlour in Diagon Ally. And I'd love to have a shoutout for your story!**

**And, for the rest of you, when people review, I check their account for stories and I _review_ them. Therefore, another reason you should review! A win-win situation for all!**


	6. The Whomping Willow & Miss Minnie Mouse

**A/N: I hope this chapter hasn't been overdone many times, but I just always felt the Marauders would have nicknames for their teachers, especially McGonagall. And I think many people agree that Sirius is insane and wants detentions. So, even though this idea is probably overdone, I think it's sort of part of their characterizations. And get ready for some Marauder Note Passing, because it just wouldn't be the same without it!**

**Chapter 6: The Whomping Willow and Miss Minnie Mouse**

McGonagall walked around and handed out schedules to all of the students. She paused when she arrived at Sirius and knelt down.

"Are you okay, Mr Black?" she said, pity all over her face.

"I'm fine, professor," Sirius said, smiling. "Really, it's nothing I wasn't expecting. I don't need pity."

"Well, no, it just reminded me of Walburga in school."

"You went to school with her?" Sirius asked, his eyes filled with curiosity. "The only school story I know is when she lost a duel…"

McGonagall stood up, "Well, that must've been quite the defeat, but her lungs seem to have gotten stronger since then. If you ever need to talk about it, I am your head of house."

"Okie dokie," Sirius said, trying to keep the atmosphere light.

"Your schedule."

McGonagall gave a schedule to Sirius and then walked off.

"Whaddya know!" Sirius exclaimed softly. "She likes me!"

Remus rolled his eyes while James chuckled. Sirius stared down at the schedule:

**GRYFFINDOR FIRST YEAR SCHEDULES**

MONDAY:

9am: TRANSFIGURATION _Minerva McGonagall _ with Slytherin

11am: HERBOLOGY _Pomona Sprout_ with Hufflepuff

1pm: LUNCH

2pm: HISTORY OF MAGIC _Cuthbert Binns _with Ravenclaw

TUESDAY:

9am: DEFENSE DARK ARTS _Walter Aragon_ with Hufflepuff

11am: POTIONS _Horace Slughorn_ with Slytherin

1pm: LUNCH

2pm: CHARMS _Filius Flitwick _ with Ravenclaw

WEDNESDAY:

9am: POTIONS _Horace Slughorn_ with Slytherin

11am: POTIONS _Horace Slughorn_ with Slytherin

1pm: LUNCH

11pm: ASTRONOMY _ Aurora Sinistra_ with Hufflepuff

THURSDAY:

9am: CHARMS _Filius Flitwick_ with Ravenclaw

11am: TRANFIGURATION _Minerva McGonagall_ with Slytherin

1pm: LUNCH

4pm: FLYING _Rolanda Hooch _with Slytherin

FRIDAY:

9am: HISTORY OF MAGIC _Cuthbert Binns_ with Ravenclaw

11am: HERBOLOGY _Pomona Sprout_ with Hufflepuff

1pm: LUNCH

2pm: DEFENSE DARK ARTS _Walter Aragon _ with Hufflepuff

UNEXCUSED TARDINESS WILL NOT BE PERMITTED IN ANY CLASS

"This doesn't seem so bad," Sirius said, and James nodded.

"There is no pattern to this!" Remus said, his eyes darting over the page.

"So?" Peter asked, his face blank.

"How am I supposed to memorize it?"

"Blimey," James said. "Is that all? You carry around the paper. Eventually you'll get this memorized. I remember Mr Ollivander saying that my wand is good for transfiguration, and we have that first. Let's go!"

Remus stared at James, dumbfounded.

"You sure changed subjects fast."

"I'm not random, you just can't think as fast as me."

"I never said you were random," Remus said, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, sorry," James said, his cheeks turning slightly red. "I just always wanted to use that comeback."

"Right…"

The four boys stood up and made their way down the corridor and towards the charms classroom. The classroom was entirely empty.

"Well, erm, I think we are early," Sirius said, glancing around the room.

Remus rolled his eyes while James stared in awe.

"I am not supposed to be early to class!"

"Oh come on," Remus said, sitting at a desk at the back of the class. "Tardiness is unacceptable, so why not be early?"

"I expected better of you, Remus Lupin," James said solemnly. "My name is James Potter, and I never do as I'm told."

"Well, keep standing there, why don't you."

"Unless it's my friend who's ordering me around," James said hastily as Peter sat down next to Remus.

"Okay, then sit down."

"I don't do as I'm told."

"Merlin, you are so immature!"

James laughed as he sat down on the other side of Remus. Sirius sat down next to James.

"You know what I want?" Sirius asked, looking towards his friends.

"World peace?" James asked.

"Something more."

"A better nickname, like Siri?" Remus asked, smirking.

"NO!"

"Oh, shame, your brother, what was his name, Regulus? called you that."

"Well, I don't like it. Keep guessing."

"We can't decide, Sirius," Peter said. "Just tell us."

"Fine," Sirius dropped his voice to a whisper. "The first detention."

"Oh, that," Peter said.

"Well, you can have it. I don't want it," Remus said, looking away.

"I think I want to share it with you," James said sincerely.

"Yeah, but you have to get it after me," Sirius said.

"Will do. But, hey, no fair, I let you have the first prank!"

"No, I simply outwitted you."

James had no reply to this, so settled for just staring forward. Sirius let his hand wander towards his pocket.

"I've another dungbomb, it is sure to get me a detention!" Sirius said, his eyes bright.

James rolled his eyes and didn't say anything. Remus and Peter grabbed parchment out of their bags, ready to start note taking.

Lily Evans walked in next, side by side with Snape. She sent a glare towards James before picking a seat in the front of the room.

"I expected better of you, Evans, associating with a greasy bit of filth like that, with whatever his name is…" James said with disgust.

"Snivellus, suppose he snivels a lot, how do you cope?" Sirius said.

"Don't do anything, Sev," Lily said, clenching her teeth. "These boys are scummier than the filth in a swamp. They're attention-seeking prats. Don't give them what they want."

"Yeah, Snivellus," Sirius said, sitting upon his desk. "You don't want to fight, you'll only lose."

"What is with you boys?" Lily asked, her nostrils flaring. "He hasn't said a single word—"

"Only because he's too cowardly…" James said.

"And you came to all these conclusion because he's a Slytherin? You know what? Maybe that's the better house! I don't see them ridiculing every Gryffindor they see…"

James gasped, and Sirius glared at Lily. Many more students had walked into the room and took their seats.

"Look, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you're a good person, I mean, I don't expect you to know any better, you're a Mudblood after all…"

Everyone in the classroom turned to face Sirius. Snape stood up, pulled out his wand, and walked towards Sirius. Lily merely stared, unsure of what Sirius had said that was so bad.

"Take that back," Snape spat. "Take that back. Using such a filthy word casually in a simple conversation, she didn't do anything to you."

"What else is she? She is a Mudblood, there's no other term—" Sirius said, confused.

Lily grabbed Snape's wand from his hand and led him back to the desk.

"BUT LILY, HE CALLED YOU A MUDBLOOD! THAT'S A FOUL NAME—"

"I know, Sev, but it's okay. He's a foul person, we shouldn't be shocked of his potty mouth."

Lily sat down and stared up front. Snape continued to send glares towards the back of the classroom.

"I don't get it," Sirius whispered. "What did I do wrong?"

James turned to Sirius. "Mudblood is a foul name for someone from a muggle family. You call them muggle-borns."

Sirius hit his head against the table. "You see how little I know? Look, I'm sorry Evans! I didn't know…"

Lily didn't turn back and accept Sirius' apology. Before Sirius could say anything more, however, McGonagall walked in.

"Well, welcome to your first class," McGonagall said, stopping at the center of the room. "I am Minerva McGonagall."

James and Sirius began to zone out during this conversation and instead decided to pass notes.

_Did she say her name is Minerva? –SB_

_Yeah… –JP_

_She needs a nickname! –SB_

_Why? –JP_

Remus watched James and Sirius pass notes, his eye twitching. But then again, it's not like their grades should matter to him. Not even Remus could keep his concentration on McGonagall while she droned on about the complications of transfiguration. So, he grabbed the note from James when Sirius wrote back a reply.

_It'll make us so much closer. She is our head of house. –SB_

_I heard from the other students to not get on her bad side though. –RL_

_Why not a challenge, Rems? –JP_

_Your funeral. Oh and James, don't call me that. –RL_

_NO, James, don't die! How could you wish his funeral upon him, Remmy? –SB_

_Do not call me that. –RL_

_Look, Professor Minnie is still talking. –SB_

_Yes, Sirius, what would you ex – Minnie? –JP_

_Yeah, it's her nickname. Do you approve? –SB_

_I wouldn't say that to her face. She doesn't quite seem like the teacher to mess with, even if you claim she does have a soft side. –JP_

_She does! And she loves me. Anyway, do you approve, Remmy? –SB _

_Whatever. Do NOT call me that, Sirius. –RL_

_Why ever not, Remmy? It's a sign of our friendship. –SB_

_STOP CALLING ME THAT! –RL_

_I'll call you whatever I want, Remmy. –SB_

_IT'S MY NAME! DON'T CALL ME THAT! –RL_

_Remmy, Remmy, Remmy, Remmy, Remmy, Remmy, Remmy, Remmy—_

"DO NOT CALL ME THAT, SIRIUS BLACK!"

Sirius didn't have time to sign his name at the end of his note for it was snatched by Remus, who then had a major outburst. Again. The whole class was staring at them.

"Mr Lupin," McGonagall said, staring at Remus. "Is there a problem?"

"I'm sorry, professor," Remus said, looking shame-faced. "But Sirius was annoying me. He kept calling me Remmy."

"Five points from Gryffindor, Mr Lupin. Please pay attention in class."

Remus opened and closed his mouth a few times. "Sorry, professor."

McGonagall went back to lecturing, while James and Sirius were trying to hold in sniggers. Peter looked confused so he grabbed the paper.

_Honestly, Sirius, you should know better than to call Remus a nickname. –PP_

_Thank you, Peter! –RL_

_Hey, Peter, did you know your initials are like, pp? –JP_

_Er, yeah? They're my initials… –PP_

_Don't you dare make the joke I think you're about to say, James. –RL_

_Fine. Forget it, Pete. –JP_

_Is that my new nickname? –PP_

_Yeah. –JP_

_I like it. –PP_

_Good. Hey Sirius, when are you going to let off the dungbomb? –JP_

_Dungbomb? –RL_

_As soon as I get on her nerves. It'll be a one-way ticket to detention. –SB_

_Oh, I dare you to call Minnie by her new nickname in front of the whole class. –JP_

_Okay. –SB_

_NO, SIRIUS DON'T! Now look what you did, James. –RL_

_He hasn't done anything yet. –PP_

_Shut up Peter! But look at this mess, James. –RL_

_Stop worrying. He won't even do it. –JP_

_This is Sirius we're talking about. –RL _

Sirius waited a few moments to gather the context of what McGonagall was saying.

"We will only be starting by turning a match into a needle. So here you go."

McGonagall started to hand out the matches. A couple minutes later, Sirius hid the match inside his bag and raised his hand politely.

"Yes, Mr Black?"

"My match disappeared, Professor Minnie."

James pursed his lips into a tight line to prevent any laughter from coming out when he looked at Sirius' innocent face. The rest of the class stared at McGonagall and then Sirius in shock. McGonagall's face went from shocked to annoyance.

"Do not call me that, Mr Black. Ten points from Gryffindor. And here is a new match."

Sirius accepted the match.

_See, I did it. –SB_

_I warned you, James, because of you, 10 more points were lost from Gryffindor. –RL_

_Sorry? –JP_

_Whatever. –RL_

_But anyway, step two in getting a detention is about to be put in action. –SB_

_You don't really have a dungbomb, do you? –RL_

_Why yes, Remmy, I do. –SB_

_Don't call me that. And noooooo, don't use it. –RL_

_Er, too late, Rems. –JP_

_Don't call me that! –RL_

Sirius threw the dungbomb near McGonagall, who was oblivious to the bomb. Within twenty seconds, the dungbomb went off, producing a terrible stench. McGonagall's eyes darted to the back of the classroom before she waved her wand, countering the scent with one that smelled rather like roses.

"Who did this?" McGonagall asked, her voice trembling.

"I did, Professor Minnie," Sirius said, standing up.

Remus covered his mouth to keep from bursting into laughter, while James tried to look innocent.

"That's twenty more points from Gryffindor."

Sirius stared in disbelief when he didn't receive a detention. "Erm, does Gryffindor even have twenty points?"

"Sit down Mr Black, before I make it fifty."

Sirius sat down without complaint.

_How did I not get a detention? –SB_

_Maybe she really does like you. –PP_

_She probably saw through your scheme. –RL_

_HEY, I think I turned this into a needle! –JP_

_You guys are no fun… –SB_

"Professor, I think I got it!" James said, standing up and waving his needle in the air.

Professor McGonagall walked over and eyed the needle. "Well done, Mr Potter. Take thirty-five points to Gryffindor. That's the fastest I've ever seen a student transfigure."

James beamed as McGonagall turned around. Lily continued to look back, eyeing the match/needle with envy as James transfigured it back and forth with ease.

"Impressed, Evans?"

"Ugh."

Lily turned around and never looked back again.

Thirty minutes later, McGonagall turned to face the class again.

"Well done, all of you," she said. "Class is dismissed."

Everyone started to get up and rush out of class to the most boring class of all time.

"Mr Lupin, I want to talk to you," McGonagall said, when majority of the class had left.

Remus looked towards Sirius, James, and Peter worriedly, who all looked equally confused as he was.

"Sirius did it," Remus said, pointing towards Sirius.

McGonagall let out a chuckle. "It's all right, Mr Lupin. I just need to talk to you. The rest of you can leave."

James and Sirius glanced one more time at Remus, who shrugged, before leaving.

"Yes, professor, what did you want?"

"I just need to wait for Messrs. Black, Potter, and Pettigrew to stop eavesdropping. Miss Evans?"

"Yes, professor," Lily froze at the door.

"Can you make sure Remus' friends go to History of Magic?"

"All right, Professor," Lily said while exiting the classroom. "Come on guys, you have to go to class."

"Are they gone, Mr Lupin?"

"Just a minute…now they're gone."

"Okay, come with me, Mr Lupin."

"What, where?" Remus asked, though following McGonagall.

"To the headmaster's office."

Remus was confused when they reached a stone gargoyle.

"Licorice wand," McGonagall said, and the gargoyle sprung to life, revealing a set of stairs. "Follow me."

"What do you think I've been doing?" Remus mumbled sarcastically under his breath.

When they got to the top, Remus saw Dumbledore sitting at his desk, and another woman standing behind him, her face sympathetic.

"Okay, I'll leave you here now, I've a class to teach," McGonagall said, leaving the office.

Remus stared at his head of house in shock. "Okay, that's right, take me out of class and leave me in this office, of course."

Dumbledore chuckled. "How was your first class?"

"Brilliant," Remus said monotonously. "Sirius Black let off a dungbomb, and we both know how terrible that smells."

"Ah. Well, Mr Lupin, I'd like you to meet the school nurse, Madam Pomfrey."

"Hello," Remus said, facing the woman.

"Hello Mr Lupin."

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Dumbledore stepped in to the conversation, choosing his words carefully.

"She, like all the other teachers, is aware of your lycanthropy."

"Oh, well, that's great."

"I understand that the next full moon is Friday?"

"Yes."

Dumbledore furrowed his eyebrows. "Do you normally feel the symptoms this early?"

"No."

Dumbledore glanced at Madam Pomfrey, who knelt down next to Remus.

"I want you to take deep breaths, Mr Lupin."

Remus started taking deep breaths for the next two minutes.

"Okay," the nurse said, holding back laughter. "You can stop now."

Remus went back to breathing normally.

"I'm only here to talk to you about your arrangements for this Friday's full moon."

Remus looked up. "I'm sorry, I'm not normally like this. So, what are the arrangements?"

Dumbledore started to speak again.

"I'm sure you are aware of the Whomping Willow that has been planted this year, correct?"

"Yeah, the fatal tree that we can't go…" Remus trailed off, realization dawning on his face. "It was planted because of me, wasn't it? I don't have to hide next to that, do I? So on the full moon I have to attack the tree? No, professor, I'll get more injured!"

Dumbledore chuckled again. "No, Mr Lupin, you will be inside the Whomping Willow."

"Great, excellent," Remus said, his face not changing. "What happened to don't go near that tree? Or does it not matter for monsters?"

Dumbledore's face grew stern. "Stop drawing to conclusions so quickly, and you are not a monster. There is a secret passage, which Madam Pomfrey will escort you to for your full moon. There's a room that is charmed, guarded by the Whomping Willow in Hogsmeade in which you shall transform."

"Oh."

Madam Pomfrey smiled. "Just meet me in the Hospital Wing at 5pm on Friday, and I'll escort you."

"But if you don't feel well enough to attend classes on Friday, or Thursday for that matter, just go to the Hospital Wing earlier. Your teachers will understand."

"All right," Remus said, turning around. "Thank you."

Remus walked out of the office, but then walked back in.

"One second, I don't know where the Hospital Wing is!"

Dumbledore chuckled. Again.

"I don't see what is so funny about me, Headmaster."

Dumbledore stopped laughing and apologized. Madam Pomfrey walked up to Remus.

"I'll show you."

Remus waved again to Dumbledore and followed Pomfrey to the Hospital Wing. Upon arrival, the nurse stopped walking.

"This is the Hospital Wing. I look forward to seeing you soon."

"Well I don't."

The school nurse laughed and Remus glared at her.

"Why is everyone bloody laughing at me?"

"My apologies. No, I suppose you shouldn't want to come here. Well, go to your next class."

Remus turned around and started to navigate his way around to school and find the History of Magic classroom.

Sirius, Peter, and James were sitting at the back of the class, more bored than they'd ever been before. Peter had fallen asleep, while James and Sirius had been passing notes for over half and hour.

_There is no class boringer than this one. –JP_

_This might have been interesting if we didn't have to listen to Binns drone. –SB_

_Where is Rems, he'd start screaming and it'd be entertaining, at least. –JP_

_I don't know. I hope he's not in trouble. –SB_

_I can't believe that Evans girl didn't let us eavesdrop. –JP_

_Hey, in her defense, McGonagall forced her to. –SB_

Remus had walked into the classroom.

"I'm sorry, Professor, I was just…Professor?" Remus said, staring at the teacher.

Binns didn't look up, but instead droned on. Many of the students were furiously taking notes. Remus raised an eyebrow, but went to go sit next to Sirius.

_Where've you been? –JP_

_McGonagall. –RL_

_What happened? –SB_

_What is this, a bloody interrogation? –RL_

_Yes. –SB_

_We didn't talk about anything. –RL_

_Right. –SB_

_You walk into class forty minutes late, and you didn't talk about anything? –JP_

_Just forget about it. –RL_

_No. –SB_

_No. –JP_

_Why are you both so stubborn? –RL_

_Just tell us the gist of what happened. –SB_

_What does forget about it mean? –RL_

_But Remmy… –SB _

_STOP CALLING ME THAT! –RL_

_I will if you don't tell me, Remmy. –SB_

_Bad moves, mate. –JP_

_Thank you, James. –RL_

_Hey, I still want to know what happened. I stood up for you, now tell us. –JP_

_I knew there was a catch. Just bloody forget about it. –RL_

_Fine. –JP_

_I'm not giving up so fast, Remmy. –SB_

_If you want to know, you're going the wrong way about doing it. –RL_

_Please, Remmy… –SB _

_NO! FORGET ABOUT IT! DON'T CALL ME THAT! –RL_

_No, Remmy, I will not. –SB_

Remus crumpled the note within his hand and pulled out his wand. Sirius eyed it warily.

"Oh come on, Remmy, is this any way to treat friends?"

"Do _not _call me that," Remus said, not lowering the wand.

"Now, now, Remmy, you don't even know any—"

"PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!"

James whipped around and saw Sirius go as stiff as a board. The class stared at Sirius and then Remus multiple times before directing their attention back at Binns. Binns continued to lecturing and Lily turned back around, trying to take notes.

"Bloody teacher," she muttered. "Wouldn't even notice if he were to die…"

James continued to stare at Remus in shock, while Remus turned around and smiled.

"Er, Remus, what did you just do?"

"Petrificus totalus…"

"What exactly is it supposed to do?"

"I don't know…that was my first time…" Remus said. "But it was perfect for this situation. I think it freezes the person."

"Okay…do you know the countercurse?"

Remus stared at Sirius before turning to James. "Er…no?"

James burst into hysterical laughter. "No?"

"Yeah, er, no."

"Well, Rems, ya know what this means?"

"No?"

"We have to go find a teacher."

Remus groaned and hit his head against the table while James continued to laugh.

"HEY PROFESSOR BINNS!" James called.

Binns did not flinch and continued to teach.

"Binns? CUTHBERT BINNS!"

"Shut up, Potter," Lily hissed. "Some of us are trying to take notes. Just take him to the Hospital Wing."

"But I dunno where the—"

"I'll take him," Remus said and Lily turned around.

"You know where the Hospital Wing is?" James asked Remus.

"Yeah, come on."

James and Remus hoisted Sirius upon their shoulders and exited the room. They couldn't get very far, however, because McGonagall showed up.

"What are you boys doing out of class? What happened to Mr Black?"

"Er…" James said, lost for words.

"We were going to the Hospital Wing. And petrificus totalus happened."

McGonagall pinched the bridge of her nose. "I love my students…I love my students…"

"Aww, you love us?" James said, smirking.

McGonagall glared at James. "And who did this to Mr Black? They will be getting a detention."

James worked hard to stare forward and not look at Remus.

"Er, what did the spell do?" Remus asked, ignoring McGonagall's question.

"It was a full body bind. Speaking of which, why didn't you just get your professor to perform the countercurse? It's a simple spell."

"You see, professor," James said, smirking. "We would've done so, but Professor Binns just wouldn't look up. And then Evans kicked us out."

McGonagall stared at James. "That teacher will be the death of me. Taught history when I was your age. And you will be too. Now I ask again, who did this to Mr Black?"

Remus glanced towards James before taking a deep breath. "I did, Miss Minnie Mouse."

James' jaw dropped. McGonagall stared at Remus for a couple of seconds, and then towards Sirius.

"Finite Incantatem."

Sirius celebrated his control of his limbs by staring at Remus in shock.

"And Mr Lupin," McGonagall said, her face red with anger. "Detention tonight, 8pm, my office. I'll be writing to your parents. Do not call me that."

With that, McGonagall stalked off, and James and Sirius continued to gape at Remus.

"Why did you call her that?" James said. "Not that it wasn't funny, I mean, I knew you'd admit to what you did, but the nickname? And improving it?"

"Well," Remus said. "I was going to get a detention anyway, I might as well have some fun. And I named her after a muggle cartoon character."

"It was brilliant," Sirius said, not at all upset at Remus for hexing him. "But I wanted the first detention."

"I'm sorry?"

"Whatever. But she's writing to your parents."

Remus froze.

"What, will you get a Howler?" James asked, grinning.

"Oh no, no, no!" Remus said, as he started to hit his head against the wall.

"Yup, James, little Remmy's gonna get a Howler."

**A/N: This was one of the fun chapters to write. I hope you've realized that James and Sirius have their own nicknames for Remus, it goes to show part of their personality. Sirius' is to annoy while James' is for quick use in a conversation. I do believe Remus using Petrificus Totalus and not knowing what it does would totally happen, and him freaking out about a Howler...I do hope you enjoyed it. It was a really light chapter, and I think Remus was so perfectly innocent in the Headmaster's Office :)**

**And now, I just thought I would take the time to mention a brilliant writer in the making, zzz4730. She is in the process of writing a fanfiction about the Marauders and can be found on my profile page as well as hers. I wanted to thank zzz4730 for the reviews (also for my story "Confronting Mary McDonald"), and I encourage many of my readers to check out that Marauders story!**

**I would also like to thank YogurtLemonGummyBear for the very kind review. **

**Review! They REALLY make me happy! They make me super excited and I end up updating really fast!**


	7. Quintin, Quidditch & Bad Conversation

**A/N: Voila! Chapter 7, where we finally get to meet new characters, and Hogwarts' Rumour Train!**

**Chapter 7: Quintin, Quidditch, and Bad Conversation Starters**

James, Sirius, and Remus made their way back to the common room, only to be greeted by Peter, who was just outside the portrait hole.

"Hey Pete," James said, going up to the chubby boy. "What are you doing here?"

"I, sorry guys. I just, kinda, like, forgot the password."

James forced himself not to look back, where Sirius was biting his lip to prevent laughing and Remus was forcing the corners of his lips to face downward.

"It's okay Pete, the password was complicated," James said, putting his arm around Peter. "It's tiddly wigs. How was History of Magic?"

Sirius and Remus burst into the portrait hole, stuffing their face into pillow, laughing like maniacs.

"How…could he…forget the…password?" Sirius said between laughs.

"I don't know…It was hilarious when…he…apologized," Remus said, breaking into laughter.

James stared down and Sirius and Remus.

"Okay guys, that's enough. Peter had to go to the loo, so he waited outside the common room," James paused while Sirius and Remus laughed even harder. "Okay guys, stop laughing. You don't treat a friend this way."

It took a few more seconds for Sirius and Remus to stop laughing, but they managed it.

"When Pete comes back, we're gonna go to dinner."

Sirius raised an eyebrow, "You shouted at us to tell us that?"

James threw his hands up in the air exasperatedly. "You get more cheeky when you're hungry! Why can't you be a normal person and get frustrated when you want food?"

"Wait, so you want us to be frustrated?" Remus asked, smirking.

"No! Just, AUGH!"

Remus caught Sirius' eye and started to chuckle. Sirius gave a wink at Remus before slowly walking up to James and resting his arm against his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, James, mate. I'm sorry you can't be as perfect as me."

"Yeah…It's – HEY!" James said, pushing Sirius' arm around his shoulder and tackling him to the ground. "That was so cheap! UNFAIR!"

Remus chortled when he saw James chuckling and Sirius laughing with tears of mirth streaming down his face.

Peter walked into the common room. "Alrighty, I'm read – what's going on?"

Sirius and James laughed even harder and Remus tried to regain his composure.

"Er…" Peter said. "Is it about me?"

Remus tightened his lips and shook his head.

"Alright…is it – do I even want to know?"

"No, probably not. It's not that funny. Sirius insulted a grumpy James, who nearly fell for it. That's all."

"Oh."

Sirius finally got off of James and brushed himself off.

"I'm hungry," Sirius said.

"That's putting in bluntly," James said. "I'm famished! Come on! Hurry up! We're the only ones in the common room! I want food!"

Peter patted his stomach eagerly in agreement. So, the four boys went out of the common room and made their way to the Great Hall. Remus followed, slightly behind the boys. He was not quite as hungry as everyone else, but hungry nonetheless.

As they neared closer to the Great Hall, Remus started to hear murmuring:

"The first detention's out!"

"Who got it?"

"A troublemaker, that's for sure."

"From McGonagall."

"First detention!"

"Some Gryffindor first year."

"Potter or Black?"

"No one knows."

Remus grimaced as he wondered how word had got out that the first detention was out. It wasn't as if the professors announced who got the first detention, like a bloody award. He didn't want the first detention! It should have gone to Sirius!

"Right Rems?" James asked, looking back at Remus.

Remus jumped.

"Aw, Remmy, whatcha been thinkin' 'bout?" Sirius asked with a gleam in his eye.

"Huh?" Remus said.

Peter laughed, but Sirius and James knelt down to Remus.

"What's wrong, mate?" James asked.

"Nothin'…" Remus said, his eyes darting back and forth between his two friends.

James gaped at Remus and stepped back. Sirius just stared.

"What?" Remus asked, starting to look worried. What if they had seen the wolf lurking behind his eyes?

"You didn't correct my grammar," Sirius said slowly. "And you butchered the English language."

"How?" Remus said, widening his eyes.

"You said 'nothin''. Are you sure you're okay?" Sirius asked, worry filling his eyes.

"Oh that!" Remus said, chuckling nervously. "It's nothing, just worried about my detention."

"Oh yeah," James said. "Little Rems don't know how to handle a Howler, I forgot. Perfect Remus."

Remus stared in front in panic, remembering the Howler.

"Don't tell me you forgot again, Remmy!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Wow," Peter said. "For someone who was trying so hard to memorize a schedule with no pattern, he sure has a bad memory. Even I remember, and I wasn't even there! You sure had me fooled, Remus. I honestly thought you had a good memory!"

James and Sirius laughed, and Remus gave a weak smile.

"Oops?"

Laughing, the James and Sirius pushed Remus into the Great Hall, while Peter led the way, doing an odd march while humming a tune. When they walked into the Hall, everyone stared. Suddenly, a girl ran up to them, around sixth year, and started to ask questions.

"What is this, some sort of grand entrance for the troublemakers? Ooh, we all know about the first detention, don't gape at me like that! Which of you did it? Was it you Potter? Or you, Black? How d'you feel about all this?"

James and Sirius looked at one another and glanced at Remus, who determinedly looked at the Gryffindor table. Remus started to walk towards the table, dragging Peter along with him.

"Don't feel shy!" the girl said, grinning widely.

"Er…"

"Erm…"

"Oh I get it," the girl continued, with a sly wink. "You both got the detention! Oh, just wait until I tell my friends! They were all betting on which one of you did it!"

With that, the girl ran off. James and Sirius looked at each other, clearly judging the girl, before making their way to the table across from Remus and Peter.

"Remmy, it seems as if you are famous," Sirius said, grabbing food.

"I'm not famous. The detention is," Remus said wisely, his eyes wide.

Before James or Sirius could reply to that, a boy sat down next to them.

"Hey, I'm Quintin Blake! I'm a fifth year. And Gryffindor Quidditch team captain, I play beater."

Remus caught eyes with Peter, and they both tried not to laugh. James and Sirius looked at the boy, amused.

"Well, hello, I'm James Potter, this is Sirius, and that's Remus, and Peter…" James said, pointing to each of the boys respectively.

"Oh, you didn't need to introduce yourself James!" the boy said, grinning widely, and speaking rather quickly. "The newest generation of pranksters, that's what you all are known as. I hear McGonagall is furious with the fact she got the pranksters. You see, last year, she had a break, but the year before that, ooh, Fabian and Gideon Prewett, two twins, just graduated. They never gave her a spare moment! And my four older brothers claimed that there were no better pranksters than the Prewett twins when they were in school. And now you four come along, and cause more trouble than they did!"

"Obviously," James said, arrogance taking over as he ran his hand threw his hair. "I mean, this is James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew you're talking to. I am the greatest prankster to walk this planet."

"Oh shut up, Jamesie!" Sirius said, and James glared. "I am the greatest prankster, as I happened to have the first prank which involved pranking the guy who calls himself the greatest prankster."

Quintin shook his dark brown hair. "I'd say all of you are the best, but I mean the first detention! The best pranksters only get that."

James and Sirius looked at each other, not amused.

"I'm sure you've been asked this only a hundred times since you've walked in, making your grand entrance at that, but is it true? Gryffindor _first_ years getting the first detention?"

"It's true," James said, sighing. "But we haven't been asked this question a hundred times. You're only number two."

"Oh really?" Quintin asked, shocked. "Well, then again, I shouldn't be. The girl who tackled you as soon as you walked in? That's Rita Skeeter. A gossip queen, you shouldn't tell her anything you want to remain secret. Comes to conclusions rather quickly at that. She's been telling everyone you two got it, together. I just had to see if the rumours were true! You, James Potter and Sirius Black, got the first detention of 1971!"

"Well…"

"Er…"

Quintin furrowed his brow. "Is this the response you gave Rita?"

Remus put his head down on the table, blushing furiously.

"Well…no."

"No?"

"It went more like this," James said, grinning.

"Er…"

"Erm…"

Quintin laughed. "You two really are quite the pranksters! But the fact you two said that doesn't really give the me the vibe that the two of you got the detention together. So, who got it?"

"Er…"

"Erm…"

"It wasn't me or James," Sirius said, glancing towards Remus, who had started to bang his head against the table.

Quintin widened his eyes and glanced towards Remus.

"Him?"

"Yup," James said, nodding his head proudly as if it were all because of him. "Remus Lupin here has got the first detention of 1971."

Remus hit his head more furiously against the table.

"NO WAY!" Quintin exclaimed, standing up. "Lemme go announce this!"

"Nooooo…" Remus moaned, still hitting his head against the table.

"Wait, Blake!" Sirius called, a devious grin crossing over his face. "Before you announce this, surely you want to know _how_ the first detention came to be given!"

"Sirius…"

Quintin stopped and sat back down where he was sitting. Remus continued groaning. James looked towards Sirius, and then to Quintin, whose eyes were filled with curiosity. Peter, however, continued to watch Remus hitting his head against the table.

"You know, Remus," Peter said. "You're going to hurt yourself really badly if you keep hitting your head."

"That's the point!" Remus said, although stopping hitting his head against the table for a few seconds.

"No, I don't think you shout hurt yourself. Nuh uh. Not a good idea."

Remus groaned as he thought the better of hitting his head against the table.

"My head hurts…"

"Well, I warned you!" Peter said brightly.

Remus looked up at Peter, and then to Quintin, who was eagerly staring at Remus.

"Look," Quintin said. "I know I said the first detention goes to the best prankster, but…I dunno if this boy looks very prankster material." Remus glared at Quintin, while Sirius, James, and Peter looked confused. "Might lose his temper a few times, but nothing passed that."

Sirius snickered, "He's got the makings of a prankster. All he needs is James and me to fix him up—"

"—James and _I_," Remus corrected, glaring at Sirius.

"Yeah, that, and then he'll be excellent. Knows some curses already," Sirius said. "But now, Remus put a full body bind on me in history."

"But Binns doesn't give detentions!" Quintin exclaimed. "In fact, he never looks up at the students!"

"No," James said. "Binns didn't give a detention. Instead, Remus and _I_ – see Rems, I'm a good person – had to go find someone who knew the countercurse. But unfourtunately, we ran into Minnie."

"Minnie?"

"McGonagall, sorry."

"You call her Minnie?"

"Well I don't, not in her face, it's just quicker to say. ANYWAY, Minnie said she'd give a detention to the person who did commit said crime. Remus figured this would be a good time to show cheek, because he owned up to his crime and called McGonagall…er…what did you call her?"

Remus glared at James, although he gave a small smile.

"I called her Miss Minnie Mouse."

Quintin nearly fell off his chair in laughter.

"No way! I didn't expect that! Coming from you! From the cartoon, right?"

"Er, yeah…" Remus said, blushing.

"AWESOME! See, I'm muggle born, in case you're wondering. Brilliant! They're right, you are a prankster deep down. Lemme go tell everyone! Most people betted on Potter and Black, sorry, James and Sirius, but a couple of people betted on you. No one would've guessed in this way, though! Oh, you boys'll make Hogwarts fun around here!"

"Yeah…" Remus said, his cheeks going more red.

"Aww, Remus is proud!" James said.

"Yeah," Sirius said. "You see here, though, Quintin, Remmy is a little down. Because Minnie said that she'd be writing to his parents, and this means Remmy'll be getting a Howler tomorrow!"

"OH!" Quintin said, grinning. "That explains it! Anyway, see you around, hopefully, by the Quidditch pitch?"

"Sure," James said, and Quintin nodded before hurrying off.

"Ah," Sirius said, sighing. "Finally I shall eat. Oh and Remmy?"

Remus looked towards Sirius.

"Oh look, you respond to the name!"

Remus glared at Sirius and then looked away.

"Oh, no no, Remmy, get back here, _Remus_?"

Remus turned back to face Sirius, giving a small nod.

"You know how you said that the detention is famous, not you? I think Mr Blake has taken good care of that. Everyone's staring at you. Don't do anything stupid."

Remus groaned as he looked around and prepared himself to bang his head against the table.

"_No_!" Sirius said. "Don't do anything stupid. Just eat your food."

James nearly choked on his pumpkin juice when he saw Remus' face. Peter chose not to look at Remus' face for fear of laughter. So he continued to eat his food. Sirius continued to glance up towards Remus and back to his food. Remus' face didn't change.

* * *

><p>"That Quintin bloke just wouldn't stop talking, now would he?" James said, pacing the length of the fireplace. "I mean, it was funny, the way he sat down next to me, but still. And the odd looks I was getting from Evans, as if it were my fault. Although, he's Quidditch captain, he must be doing something right. All that talking, perhaps it's serving him well. But I won't deny it's downright annoying…"<p>

"Hypocrite," Remus muttered, and Sirius laughed.

"My thoughts exactly."

"_Excuse me_?" James asked, glaring at the two of them.

"It's just hypocritical. You claim it's annoying when he talks to much, but you seem to remind me just of him. Anyway, I want to do my homework, you seem to be making it very difficult for me…"

"Prat," James muttered. "Stop doing your homework. Come talk to me!"

"I'm almost done, calm down, James."

"Fine then, be that way…you know Peter's copying down your answers, right?"

"Yeah…Look, James, I have to finish my homework, because I am dog tired."

"Dog tired?" Sirius repeated, laughing. "Dog? Why would anyone relate themselves to a dog?"

"And you, Sirius?" James said, honing in towards Sirius. "You're not doing homework! You talk to me!"

Sirius sighed. "Sure thing, boss."

James smirked, "So I'm the boss now?"

Sirius widened his eyes. "NO, NO, you can't be the boss! IT'S A FIGURE OF SPEECH!"

"Okay, okay, chill!" James said, panicking. "Don't be so loud. Rems is going to freak!"

"I heard that!" Remus said, smirking, eager to add trouble for James.

"Ugh, now look what you did!" James said, groaning.

"That's right," Remus said, laying his homework aside. "You stole my line…"

"Bugger…" James said, backing away as Remus pulled out his wand threateningly. "Sirius, help…I wasn't supposed to bother him, but…ya know…"

"Nope," Sirius said, smirking.

"Bugger, bugger…" James said, reaching for his wand.

"_Don't_ pull your wand out," Remus said, menacingly.

James started to cower under the smaller boy's glare.

"Sorry…forgive me…I don't know any spells yet, see…surely you'd want an honourable duel?"

At last, Remus couldn't keep a straight face any longer, and Sirius muffling his laughter with pillows alongside Peter was not helping. He burst into laughter and fell to the ground upon his knees.

"Your face…so sincere…you didn't…think…I'd…your face…wand…" Remus gasped.

James narrowed his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. Of course I was nervous, you know hexes, I know none. I wouldn't back out of the fight though. I was only acting."

"Yeah, yeah," Sirius muttered in the background.

"It's your fault, Sirius!"

Remus gasped, "You stole my line. Again."

"Sorry," said James, flopping down onto a couch. "So, you all done your homework?"

"Yeah."

"Me too!" Peter said excitedly.

"Great," Sirius said, rolling his eyes.

The four of them sat in silence. Until, that is, Peter decided to break it.

"So…let's talk!"

Remus burst into laughter while James and Sirius just looked at Peter oddly.

"What?" Peter asked, completely oblivious to what he had done.

That set James off. Sirius looked at Peter.

"That, Pete, has got to be the worst conversation starter I have ever heard."

"Why? I think it's good. It's simple and gets the point across."

"Peter!" Remus said, laughing even harder.

"What?" Peter said angrily.

"Hey, calm down Pete," Sirius said. "Just, please, do not start a conversation like that again. Just…no. Just no. You don't do that. Either bring up a topic, or don't bother breaking the silence."

"Oh. Okay."

Aside from a few sniggers from James and Remus, they sat in silence again. Until Peter had an 'aha' moment.

"My conversation starter wasn't that bad!"

The three boys looked up, startled.

"W-what?" James asked, seriously concerned for the boy's mental health.

"Sirius said that conversation starters should bring up a topic, right? Well, my conversation starter got us talking on the horridness of it. And I'm sure you guys are considering my health, so that means it got you thinking, right?"

"Yeah, but Pete," Sirius said, starting to get into this debate. "If your conversation starter were to be considered a good one, then wouldn't that defeat the whole purpose of your bad conversation starter? For if it weren't bad, then it wouldn't have sparked up any discussion."

"But the fact of the matter is that I'm not saying that it isn't bad, I'm just saying that the good thing about the bad conversation starter is that it performed its task like a good conversation starter."

"But that isn't what you were arguing for. You said your conversation starter wasn't that bad. Therefore, you are trying to say it is not bad, thus meaning it is good. And if it were good, my point still stands."

"I said _that_ bad, meaning my point is still bad, just a lesser form of bad than the bad you claimed it to be. Your point is moot."

"Moot?" James asked, but was ignored by the debaters.

"Point doesn't stand in the context for the debate," Remus replied, watching Peter and Sirius intently.

"My point is not moot!" Sirius said, narrowing his eyes. "There aren't multiple forms of bad, you would have to use a different word, such as horrible. As are you. Yet I only used the word bad, and so did you, so saying that bad shouldn't make much of a difference. Thus, your point is moot."

"I don't see how my point is moot. You are the one bringing adjectives into the picture. Being this a conversation about my conversation starter, even if when I said it wasn't that bad and thus that meant good, look at the wonderful debate it has sparked."

"But this only brings me back to my previous point, which you declared moot. You bringing it back up only shows me that my point is not moot, but in fact a true point. If your point was a good conversation starter, it would not have struck up any point about it being bad, for it would be good. But then it wouldn't fit under the category of good, because it wouldn't bring up any discussion."

"Oh fine. I was bringing something up that qualified as bringing up a discussion, and plan to use it in the near future."

"No!"

"But you can't think of any good conversation starters on the spot to break the silence? My one did its job."

"I can so come up with a good conversation starter on the spot!"

"Then do it."

"Er…Quidditch!"

"Quidditch?" Peter asked incredulously.

"Quidditch."

"Quidditch?" James repeated, his eyes lighting up.

"Quidditch…" Remus groaned.

"See Pete, my conversation starter brought more people into the conversation, thus making it—"

"Whatever," Peter said.

"Quidditch is a great game!" James exclaimed in excitement. "I've still got my money on the Chudley Cannons, to be honest."

"Seriously?" Sirius said, his eyes glowing. "Ha, Sirius seriously…Anyway, no, I'd put my money on the Falmouth Falcons… 'Let us win, but if we cannot win, let us break a few heads…'. They've got amazing beaters!"

"I know that," James said, smiling. "But no, the Chudley Cannons are spectacular! There's no better motto than 'We shall conquer.'"

"Yeah but they never win anything…"

"But in 1892! Their win was amazing, they've still got it somewhere!"

"Bu—"

"STOP IT!" Remus said, covering his ears. "Why do we have to talk about Quidditch?"

The three boys turned around and gaped at Remus. James seemed to be trembling with fury. Remus squirmed uncomfortably in his seat.

"Why wouldn't we talk about Quidditch?" Sirius asked, keeping his voice even.

"I dunno…" Remus said while realizing his mistake.

"You like Quidditch, right?" Peter asked.

"Er…"

"Remus!" James said. "You do know what we're talking about, right? You know, with the three chasers getting a Quaffle through a hoop guarded by a keeper while beaters hit bludgers at everyone while the seeker searches for the golden snitch?"

"I know how to play Quidditch," Remus said. "And I know what you're talking about. And my dad loves Quidditch. And my cousins. But I'm not _obsessed _with Quidditch."

Remus received blank, accusing glares from Sirius and James.

"Peter, you don't hate Quidditch, do you?" Sirius asked, keeping his glare steadily upon Remus.

"I don't hate Quidditch," Remus pointed out. He was ignored.

"I like to watch Quidditch, but I can't play very well. Flying isn't my strong point," Peter said. "I'm gonna leave and write a letter to my parents."

Peter realized where this conversation was going and decided he didn't want to be a part of it. So he ran up into his dormitory. Remus debated doing the same thing, but it didn't quite seem that James and Sirius would let him.

"I cannot have a roommate who hates Quidditch," James said.

"I don't _hate_ Quidditch," Remus said again.

"Nor can I. It is a crime. Blasphemy! He is not allowed to hate Quidditch," Sirius said, ignoring Remus.

"_I don't hate Quidditch_."

"We must show him right from wrong," James said, putting a hand over his heart and closing his eyes. "We can change him. He will not hate Quidditch after our lessons."

"I DON'T HATE QUIDDITCH!" Remus screamed, and the whole common room looked at him. After they saw it was Remus, however, they went back to their own business.

"But you said so," Sirius said.

"No I didn't," Remus said whilst rolling his eyes. "You came to that conclusion. I said I'm not obsessed with Quidditch. Which means I'm okay with Quidditch. I _dislike_ Quidditch. Meaning it is not a like nor hate. It is in between."

"No," James said. "Dislike is pretty much hate. How can you not like Quidditch?"

"I don't know. It's a little boring, especially when you have to watch it as much as me."

"Boring?" Sirius echoed. "BLASPHEMY!"

"How can that be a reasoning?" James said with disbelief, his eyes wide. "No, I have to go tell someone. Come on, Sirius."

"No, guys!" Remus exclaimed, annoyed. "Stupid friends, stupid Quidditch…"

"Hey, you!" James said, grabbing third year girl towards him.

"Uh, what?" she asked, a little horrified.

"Do you hate Quidditch?" Sirius asked, while Remus covered his face with his hands.

"I should hope not, I'm on the team…"

"Really?" James asked. "What d'you play?"

"Keeper…"

"Awesome. Is Quidditch boring?" Sirius asked.

"NO! How dare you suggest such a thing? I, Kaitlin Brown, have never heard such an accusation!" the girl said, suddenly offended. "'Tis Blasphemy! Quidditch is the opposite of boring!"

Quintin ran up when he saw the crowd gather.

"Did I hear someone say Quidditch was boring?" Quintin asked, his eyes accusatory. "How dare someone suggest such a thing? Who did it?"

Remus tried to hide within the pillows.

"The PRANKSTER?" Quintin said, glaring at Remus. "How could he? FOLKS, IS QUIDDITCH BORING?"

The common room stared at Quintin, and then to the boy hiding underneath pillows. Quintin grabbed Remus by the arm and lifted him into the air. Remus was not amused.

"This…thing…the prankster, claimed that Quidditch was boring! He hates Quidditch!"

"I do _not _hate Quidditch!" Remus exclaimed. Being shaken in the air was not something that he enjoyed. "I _dislike_ it."

Quintin lowered Remus to the ground, and glared. Sirius stared at Remus as if he had just committed the worst crime in the world. James narrowed his eyes with determination.

"You _cannot_ dislike Quidditch. We shall fix this situation. We will take you to a Quidditch practice. We will make you play."

"Yeah," Sirius said, agreeing with James. "Quintin, when is your next practice?"

Quintin took a breath as if he had just lost a battle. Remus figured this was all very melodramatic.

"This Saturday," Quintin said. "BE THERE. This boy cannot be in Gryffindor if he hates Quidditch."

"_Dislike_."

"It'll be sometime at 5pm," Quintin said. "OKAY EVERYONE, BACK TO YOUR BUSINESS."

Remus glared at Sirius and James.

"I don't want to go to the Quidditch practice," he said, and realization dawned over his face. He couldn't go to the Quidditch practice; it would be the day after the full moon. "I WILL NOT go to the Quidditch practice."

"Yeah, yeah, Remmy," Sirius said, dismissing the fact with a wave of his hand. "Same way you won't do pranks or get a detention or receive a Howler. Come on, let's get you in our dormitory."

Sirius and James grabbed Remus by an arm each and pulled him up the stairs. Remus continued to grumble about stupid situations he seemed to get himself into. In the dorm, they were greeted by Peter, who wore an annoyed expression.

"You guys were so loud, I couldn't get any sleep," he said.

Sirius and James dropped Remus onto his bed.

"I take it I win the conversation starter contest," Sirius said, holding his hand out for Peter to shake.

Peter did not shake the hand. "I didn't know we were having a contest. It was an argument."

James shook his head. "This is true, Mr Black. You are not to cheat your way into victory."

"But anyway," Peter said. "I was coming to get the prankster extraordinaire, because I figured he probably forgot about his detention when discussing Quidditch."

"Oh he didn't," James said confidently. "We brought it up many times."

"Yeah…" Peter said, glancing at Remus. "Do you know what time it is?"

"Er," Sirius started. "Not time for detention?"

"It's 7:56."

"Oh," James said. "That's not good."

Sirius started to laugh. "Mr Lupin who likes to follow rules seems to be breaking more than ever."

Peter looked at Sirius oddly, and then the clock. "Time is ticking."

"Bugger!" James said when he went up to Remus. "He's asleep!"

"So wake him up!" Peter said.

"REMUS, WAKE UP!" James yelled, yanking Remus from the bed. "YOUR DETENTION!"

Remus' eyes shot open, "Wha—"

"You have three minutes to get to Minnie's office. You better run!"

"CRAP!"

**A/N: Yes, I know, Rita Skeeter wasn't in the Marauders Years, but I just needed her there, and didn't want to make a new reporter. So let's just keep Rita in here. And I loved writing for Quintin, I love to write mini rants...And the bad conversation starters debate was fun, it gives insight as to how the other Marauders (I know, I keep referencing them as such even though they aren't dubbed that yet) think of Peter...And Remus the Sleepyhead is always interesting. I can only imagine how frustrated the James, Sirius, and Peter would be over this. And Remus is very small as of now, so it's rather easy to carry him. People clearly like to manhandle him. Sirius and Remus are starting to get sorta closer, they can both be very hyper when they want to. I dunno, I've always felt that Sirius was Remus' best friend, and Sirius was his; James was more like Sirius' twin brother...**

**I'd like to thank Sparkie926 (for her review on chapter 1): Wow. I never realized I could evoke such emotions :). That makes me feel very good. Thank you for the lovely review. I hope you continue reading and reviewing future chapters! She's written one HP story, where she replaces Peter for an OC, and it's pretty good and original, I'm not expecting a Mary Sue, so you should read it.**

**I'd also like to thank zzz4730 for the review. Thanks. I'll try not to wait too long for the next updates! By the way, you should check out her stories, she's finished the Marauders First Year and has started the Second. Read it and review it, she updates very fast!**

**I decided I'm no longer going to ask for reviews but instead keep a review count. When this story gets to fifteen reviews, I'll update it. I really want to hear your opinions and improve my writing. Criticism is good as well, if you give something specific. But really, being the seventh chapter, I would've hoped this would get to twenty-one (3 reviews a chapter) but I'll settle for fifteen. It takes one minute to review, and about a week to write a chapter. Those five seconds would make my day and make the writing worth it. Otherwise, you'll find the updates start to come slower. So, when this gets to 15 or more, I'll give you chapter 8.**

**PREVIEW:**

**"You know, Rems," James said, looking thoughtful. "Or should I say, RJ?"**

**"NOT RJ, that name sounds awful!"**

**"Right, so _RJ_, I think that we should set your dad's wishes true. We will force you to join in on our pranks."**


	8. Lillers

**A/N: Dang! I got to 15 reviews _really_ fast! Well, I keep my promises and I'm on my phone right now, but I give you the next chapter! And we finally get to really meet Lily in this chapter! So, without further ado:**

**Chapter 8: Lillers**

"He's not awake yet, is he?" James said, groaning.

"Nope!" Peter said helpfully.

"Well, I'm not waking him up. I woke him up yesterday. I'm gonna freshen up," Sirius said quickly.

"But you freshened up four times," Peter said.

"Well a fifth time couldn't hurt."

Sirius went to bathroom.

"I'm more of a person who needs to freshen up one time, if you know what I mean," Peter said.

James wrinkled his nose. "Right. Most people do seem to be like that…"

"But I already freshened up today," Peter said.

"Good for you, Peter. We all have. Rems is the only one who won't get up."

"That's cool but luckily I—"

"Enough with the bathroom talk, Peter!"

"Sorry…"

"Okay, Remus, it is time to be rudely awakened."

James walked up to Remus' bed, and yanked the covers from Remus.

"Yo, Rems, wake up! Classes!"

Remus did not even stir.

"Er…Rems?" James said, worried. "REMUS!"

James shook Remus, who merely swatted his hand away.

"'M sleepin'" Remus grumbled. "Lemme…"

"NO! Rems, you will wake up this instance. It's like 7:30! So late!"

Remus lulled himself back to sleep, so James grabbed Remus and started to drag him around his bed chanting, "REMUS WAKE UP!"

"How is he sleeping through all this?" Peter asked in awe.

"I dunno, but I don't like it!"

After a good five minutes of trying to wake Remus up, James flopped back onto his own bed.

"It's no good. He won't wake up."

Peter looked amused and walked up to Remus. The chubby boy proceeded to poke the younger boy.

"Wake up, Remus. Wake up!"

Remus shot his arm out and hit Peter in the gut. Peter fell back.

"I give up…"

"Let's just wait for Sirius," James said.

"What about me?" Sirius said, opening the bathroom door.

"Remus won't wake up."

"Wow. I could hear you from in the bathroom yelling."

"He probably woke up, but then went back to sleep."

"Okay. I've got quite the plan. But later we have to look up a spell."

"There's no time to look up a spell right now!" James exclaimed. "We have to get to breakfast to see Rems' Howler!"

"Relax!" Sirius said, alarmed with James' reaction. "I've a plan right now. I just need a bucket."

"Of course! Why didn't I think of that?" James said.

"Because you aren't as brilliant as me?"

"Haha, very funny. If you're so brilliant, where are you planning to get a bucket from?"

"Er…"

"I've got one!" Peter said brightly.

"Awesome!" Sirius exclaimed, grabbing the bucket Peter was pointing to.

"Why do you have a bucket?" James asked, eyeing Peter curiously.

"Oh, it's just because sometimes in the middle of the night I have to g—"

James widened his eyes and covered his innocent ears, "NO! STOP IT! I don't want to hear it!"

"Hear what?" Sirius asked, carrying a bucket full of cold water.

"NOTHING!" James said hastily when Peter opened his mouth.

"Okay then…" Sirius said, looking at James oddly. "Okay Remmy, get ready to freeze!"

Sirius dumped the bucket of cold water over Remus' head, and then through his pajamas. Remus let out a scream, yet Sirius wouldn't stop until the whole bucket was empty. Remus' clothes and hair started to stick to his skin, and he was shivering.

"STOP!" Remus cried, attempting to swat away the water.

Sirius just laughed as the last drops of water fell onto Remus' forehead. James and Peter stared in shock. They hadn't expected Sirius to go on for that long. Sirius casually tossed the bucket aside and looked at Remus, who was trying to give him a death glare.

"Good morning Remmy!" Sirius gave a cheeky wave. "Nice to see that you're up. Why don't you go get ready?"

Remus stood up, allowing the water to drip down onto the floor. Remus' eyes flashed, and Sirius gulped. James and Peter backed away, still staring into Remus' eyes. Remus took a calming breath. As he felt calmer, he looked at his three roommate's faces. Then, without warning, he burst into laughter.

"You're…faces…should've…seen…"

Sirius blinked. "You terrible person! Go get ready. I was only acting."

Remus crossed his arms, "Uh huh."

"Just go," Peter said. "We've been ready for quite some time."

Chuckling, Remus made his way into the bathroom, after he grabbed his robes. Ten minutes later, he was out again.

"Ready?" James asked. "Alrighty! Forward men!"

James marched out of the room, followed by Sirius, who was chanting, "HUP 2 3 4, HUP 2 3 4!"

Peter joined into the march, while Remus followed, cocking an eyebrow.

The Great Hall was filled with chatter when they entered. But all were staring at the lone owl that was hovering over Gryffindor table, carrying a red envelope. Sirius found this amusing and burst into laughter. The others just looked at him weirdly.

"Remmy's got a Howler!" Sirius said.

Remus groaned, "WHY?"

"Oh come on, Rems, it's fine. Sirius already got a Howler. Just open it."

Remus stared at the letter the owl dropped onto his desk.

"Thanks Nighthawk, for this wonderful letter," he muttered sarcastically. "Ugh, why Gryffindor? If I wasn't Gryffindor, I'd run right out!"

"Come on, Remus! Do it fast, or it'll explode and be even louder!" Peter said, starting to worry.

With a trembling hand, Remus opened the letter.

"REMUS JOHN LUPIN! HOW DARE YOU DO WHAT YOU DID? IS THIS WHAT I RAISED YOU TO DO? TALKING TO A TEACHER LIKE THAT…YOU GO TO SCHOOL TO LEARN! HOGWARTS WAS ALL YOU SPOKE ABOUT; HOW DARE YOU GET A DETENTION ON THE FIRST DAY OF CLASSES? AND THAT TOO, CALLING A TEACHER A NAME! YOU BETTER BE SORRY. I DON'T WANT TO HEAR OF ANYMORE RULE BREAKING FROM YOU, EVER! I AM SO ANGRY AT YOU, SO DISAPPOINTED. I HOPE YOU FEEL HUMILIATED! THIS IS THE MOST INSANE REASON TO GET A DETENTION…ON THE FIRST DAY OF CLASSES! AND I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE DISAPPOINTED! YOUR FATHER HAS SOME THINGS TO SAY TO YOU.

"Right…Hi Remmy…I mean Remus. How are you? Things at home are cool. What is this I hear of a detention? Have you made friends? Why of course you did, you hexed a friend! First spell you have ever done! Will they bring back your true prankster side? And is what I have heard true? You called McG Miss Minnie Mouse? Brilliant! I never would've thought! I knew those muggle cartoons would do you well. Go back to pranking, son. That is what I think you should do. Have fun at Hogwarts, this is the better part of your life! But I am disappointed. I didn't get a letter telling me you blew up the Slytherin common room! Do so soon. Oh, and I think I better go; your mother is glaring daggers at me…gotta go, bye Remmy!

"LYALL, GET BACK HERE!"

The letter ripped itself into pieces, but none fell onto Remus, for he had fallen off of his seat while laughing. His friends seemed to find the whole thing rather funny too. McGonagall didn't seem very pleased, though. She was glaring at where the letter had been.

"He was supposed to be punished," McGonagall muttered under her breath. "Not give them more nicknames for me in front of the whole bloody school."

A lot of the hall had burst into laughter as well. Skeeter seemed to have taken notes on the entire hall while Quintin was giving a standing ovation to the Howler.

"And you were nervous!" James exclaimed when Remus sat back down.

"Your dad is AWESOME!" Sirius said.

"I had no idea my mum would let him record! I was so nervous of being humiliated, it didn't even cross my mind about my dad recording. I haven't done anything wrong for so long…only _he'd_ force me to blow up the Slytherin common room!"

"You know, Rems," James said, looking thoughtful. "Or should I say, RJ?"

"NOT RJ, that name sounds awful!"

"Right, so _RJ_, I think that we should set your dad's wishes true. We will force you to join in on our pranks."

"Wait, no," Remus said, suddenly looking fretful. "I don't want to actually do anything! I'll just sit back…"

Lily was watching the boys very carefully and walked over.

"Ya know, Remus has the right idea, Potter," she said Potter with disgust. "You ought to listen to him. You too, Black. Both of you are so stupid, trying to corrupt people to do what they don't want to."

"No one asked your opinion, Evans," James said, narrowing his eyes. "Frankly, we don't care for your opinion. You might as well join those slimy snakes."

"There's nothing wrong with House Unity! Sev is a far better friend than you could ever be!"

"Sev?" Sirius asked. "Little pet name for you sniveling, back stabbing, cunning friend?"

"Shut up, Black! I hate both of you! You do nothing right!"

"Well, if you hate both of them," Peter said slowly. "Then why are you bothering talking to them?"

"EUGH! Even you, Pettigrew? I thought you had half a brain!"

"We've got brains, _Evans_," James said. "More than you. If I recall, I believe Sirius and I got the spells we have completed before you?"

"You guys are nothing! Nothing! I shouldn't be wasting time talking to you!"

"No, you probably shouldn't. You're messing up our mood, as well as yours. Go back to Snivellus," Sirius said, wrinkling his nose.

"I think I will. You're not worth my time!"

Lily stomped off, leaving the boys staring at her, agape. Remus continued to look at Lily, as though recalling something.

"What's up with her?" James asked. "Not like I've done anything."

"You haven't, mate," Sirius said. "She stood up for her beliefs and you stood up for your own. There's nothing wrong with you. She's the one who has no house loyalty."

"Yeah," James looked at Remus, who was watching Lily. "And what did you do to deserve being called Remus? Has she a crush on you?"

Remus didn't reply.

"Rems? Remus?" James said, snapping his fingers in front of Remus' nose. "What's up with you, have you got a crush?"

"No," Remus replied calmly. "And no, I'm not in denial either. I'm only eleven, for heaven's sake. I was just wondering the same thing as you."

"Cool," James said. "Anyway, what've we got next?"

"Defense, with Professor Aragon," Remus said, without a moment's hesitation.

"You got the schedule memorized?" Sirius asked, seeming impressed.

"Yeah," Remus said. "I was done my lines quickly, so then I wrote down the schedule multiple times and got it memorized. Minnie was glad that I was using my time in detention for academic purposes. Claimed that it showed I was learning my lesson."

James laughed, "If only she knew…"

"Anyway," Peter stood up. "We should go to class now."

The four of them walked into the defense classroom, where Daisy Hookum and Deb Zabbler were already sitting. Lily Evans then shoved passed Sirius and sat down in an empty seat. Mary McDonald quickly followed and sat next to Lily, who smiled politely. James wrinkled his nose and sat in the back, while Remus continued to stare at Lily.

"Oh come on, Remus!" Sirius said. "Stop staring at your crush."

"She is not my crush," Remus said. "Just thinking about something else."

"Uh huh," Sirius said, pushing Remus towards an empty chair.

Eventually, the rest of the class filled in, but the teacher was still not there. However, at 9:05, a black-cloaked figure made its way into the room. It moved slowly, and had its wand out. It started to talk in a menacing manner.

"I will kill you all…slowly but surely. A bundle of first years who know no spells, oh the horror…"

The class stared in shock. No one seemed to know what to do. James looked at Sirius, who threw a dungbomb. The figure hit the bomb away with a flick of its wand and pointed the wand directly at Sirius.

"Ah yes, a Black, are you not? Then you probably are familiar with the Cruciatus Curse? I believe it'll probably do you well…"

Remus sank down in his chair, seeming paralyzed with fright. Yet he discreetly took out his wand.

"Cruc—" the figure started, but was then interrupted by Remus.

"EXPELLIARMUS!" he yelled, and the figure's wand landed into his hand. James took the opportunity to start beating the man up the muggle way.

"How dare you try to attack one of us?" James yelled.

"YOU ARE A COWARD!" Remus bellowed. "YOU WILL NOT TOUCH MY FRIENDS WHILE I AM ALIVE!"

Peter took a moment to go and check on Sirius, who was breathing heavily. Sirius' face was pale and he was shaking.

The figure let out a roar, but Remus and James didn't stop. That is, until the figure spoke in a kind tone, almost sounding fatherly.

"Well done, students. I am quite proud. My name is Professor Aragon, so I suggest you stop hitting me."

Remus and James pulled back in shock. James shrank back down in his chair, but Remus didn't lower his defenses.

"I'm not giving you back your wand. Prove that you are a professor."

The man chuckled. "This is how I greet every class, but I have never had one so persistent. This is great. I've been defense professor for so long, since Dippet's last year. I taught your dad, Lyall, you look like him, Mr Lupin."

Remus sat back down in his chair, but still didn't return the wand.

"Take off your cloak."

The man did as he was told, and revealed himself wearing professor's robes. His face showed no reason that he was lying. Remus eyed him appraisingly before tossing the man's wand back to him.

"Thank you, Mr Lupin," the man said. "I am pleased to see you persistence. Your loyalty to your friends is great, despite your past," Aragon winked while Remus glared. "Now for the rest of you, without Mr Lupin and Mr Black, I noticed that many of you stood frozen in shock. This will not do. This will be our first lesson, staying cool."

Aragon turned back to the blackboard while the rest of the class took out parchment. James took out two pieces, one obviously for passing notes.

_Hey Rems! –JP_

_I want to focus, James. These lessons can help us in the real world. –RL_

_I just wanted to say good job with the professor. –JP_

_Thanks? –RL_

_That shouldn't have been answered with a question mark. –PP_

_James is subtlety trying to tell you to explain to him the spell. And thank you for that. –SB_

_SHUT UP SIRIUS! –JP_

_Oh. Expelliarmus, disarms the opponent. I read through our defense book again last night. –RL_

_Again? –SB_

_Yes. It's the only book I've read, but I figured it would be helpful. I think defense is very interesting. So if you would excuse me… –RL _

The boys put away the note parchment and started paying attention to the professor.

"Now, can anyone tell me a couple of hexes that could possibly be useful in battle?"

Only one hand went up in the air. Sirius and James seemed to be having no trouble following along, but Lily seemed downright confused.

"Yes, Mr Lupin?"

"Well, you could use the full body bind, or the jelly legs…there's also something called the curse of the bogeys, if I recall correctly…"

"Yes, ten points for Gryffindor!"

The class finished rather soon in Remus' opinion, and the Gryffindors made their way towards the dungeons. Lily looked at Remus with an odd gleam in her eye, and Remus nodded. Peter found this exchange to be rather curious.

"What was that?" he asked quietly, as if he didn't want James or Sirius to hear.

"Nothing," Remus said. "Nothing at all. Just seemed to be impressed by my knowledge in defense. Of course, if she read the books, she'd stop looking at me in such a high light. I'm not that impressive. I only know some of the theory."

"Always the modest one. James and Sirius could take a leaf out of your book."

"I wonder if they've even opened their books?"

"Guys, keep up!" James said, pausing slightly. "What were you talking about?"

"Nothing," Remus said, smirking. "Just wondering if you'd opened any of your books."

James and Sirius looked offended, but didn't say what Remus had been expecting.

"How dare you suggest such a ludicrous idea?" Sirius exclaimed. "Sirius Black, opening a book?"

"You say it as if we would take the time to look at those dry pages! Never!" James added, putting his hand over his heart.

"Oh shut up," Peter said, shoving his way through.

James and Sirius rolled their eyes and they continued their walk to the dungeons. When they got there, they went to a corner desk, as the arrangement was in clusters. Remus and Sirius both wrinkled their noses when they got there; James and Peter were better at hiding their distaste.

"Ugh, this place smells," Sirius moaned, plugging his nose.

Remus, who had a stronger sense of smell than Sirius, heartily agreed.

The teacher walked in. He had a bit of a stomach, to put it lightly.

"Oho! A new class, Gryffindor and Slytherin, my favourite! I am Professor Horace Slughorn, but of course you all knew that, as I have taught many brilliant witches and wizards, including many of your parents.

"I don't expect many of you to be very ahead in potion making, it is, after all, a subtle science in a way. Some may consider potion-making not magic, but I am afraid they are mistaken. It takes a great deal of control.

"But enough of my chit-chat. I am here to tell you to turn to page 167, where you will start with an assignment. This will not be graded, I would just like to see where all of you stand. For this potion, I ask that you split yourselves up into pairs. And the group that makes the best potion shall receive a small bottle of this potion.

"This potion is an energy potion, also known as Vigoris. It will no doubt help you in your studies, or pulling off an all-nighter. The effects last twelve hours. Now, pip pip, wouldn't want you all to not have enough time!"

James and Sirius immediately partnered up, along with Remus and Peter. Lily and Severus partnered up quickly, and so did Donna and Marlene. Mary, however, was left with no Gryffindors to partner up with. This would mean she would need to partner up with a Slytherin. There was one boy left, called Randy Nott, who was narrowing his eyes at Snape.

"Right, well, Nott, I suppose I'll work with you," Mary said warily.

Lily seemed to be nodding encouragingly at Mary. She was all for House Unity, it seemed.

"Don't talk to me, Mudblood. Let's get this over with."

Mary bit her lip to stop it from quivering. She looked over at Lily, who was busy conversing with Snape. Sirius and James, however, didn't seem to appreciate this exchange.

"Leaving one of your own for the Slythersnakes, Evans?" James asked.

"What's it to you, Potter?" Lily asked, unabashed. "These so-called Slythersnakes haven't done anything."

"Are you blind, Evans? Or do you just pretend to be?" James said accusingly.

"She's a back-stabbing traitor, that's what she is," Sirius said. "Abandoning one of her own for Snivellus. She's just like the rest of them."

"Shut up, Black," Mary said, looking shocked at her own strength.

"Are you seriously going to stand up for her?" James asked, incredulously. "I don't see her jumping to your side when you were called a you-know-what!"

"I wasn't paying attention!" Lily said. "Just work on your potion. And Nott, don't you dare say that word in front of me again!"

"Oh, so very threatening," Nott muttered, though grabbing a cauldron. "Come on, _McDonald_, gather the ingredients."

James and Sirius started to make the potion.

Remus and Peter had already started, but they weren't quite having much success. Remus' nose was twitching the whole time, and his eyes were stinging. It was difficult to focus on anything. His senses were getting the better of him. Peter, on the other hand, was just not confident. He trembled when he held a knife, and couldn't control pouring in the right amount. Even though Remus and Peter both understood the theory, executing it wasn't quite working out for them.

It was by then Sirius tapped Remus on the shoulder and handed him a note. Remus sighed. It wouldn't be class without note passing, but getting caught would only get him into trouble. But it wasn't as if he could work on the potion…and his prankster side would always get the better of Remus, no matter how much he tried to get rid of it.

_Successful in your potion making? –SB_

_You didn't need to ask that. It doesn't take a genius to realize it isn't the right colour. I understand the theory, but Peter and I are having trouble executing it. –RL_

_The smell getting the better of you? –SB_

Remus froze. He was sure Sirius had no idea, they hadn't even gone through a full moon yet, but there was still the fear of him finding out his secret. Sirius, however, seemed to be experiencing the smell to be bad, but was obviously good at fighting it.

_Yeah. –RL_

_Hey Rems, do you know any spells I can use? –JP_

_Why would I tell you? You'd probably use it for bullying purposes. And no, I do not. –RL_

_Fine. Don't help a friend in need. –JP_

Remus rolled his eyes at James' dramatics and went back to the potion. Peter, unfourtunately, had dropped the wrong ingredient into the potion.

"Oops?" Peter said timidly.

Remus suppressed a groan. He didn't want to deal with an even more messed up potion then they had before, but he also didn't want to hurt Peter's feelings. The only thing Remus was worried about was that he would end up having the most messed up potion in the class, because the proportions were all messed up AND they added in a powder that appeared to be changing the colour of the potion. He didn't have long to dwell on this matter, though.

An explosion occurred on the right hand side of the class, or as James called it, the Evans and Slytherin side of the class. The explosion had occurred from inside Lily and Severus' cauldron. Anywhere the potion had touched seemed to turn a bright orange. Along with the colour came a smell, an awful smell, from a dungbomb. That was probably what had caused the explosion. Of course, Remus also figured who the culprits were; they were not doing a good job of hiding it. Sirius and James seemed far too innocent to be innocent.

The potion hit all of the male Slytherins, aside from Nott. Severus and Lily had gotten the worst part of it, and appeared to be doing some sort of odd dance. Had they not been in class, Remus reckoned it would've been an excellent comedic piece to videotape.

"Aah!" Lily screamed hysterically. "Who did this? Who? Our potion was perfect!"

"I don't know!" Severus said. "But my skin stings and itches like hell!"

"If I ever get my hands on the person who did this, just AAH!"

Slughorn had waved his wand got rid of majority of the potion. The effects of the stinging and itching didn't wear off. Slughorn looked around the classroom and saw Sirius and James, who looked just a tad too innocent for his liking. As well, they seemed to be rather bright, and would be the boys who would calculate what would occur when certain ingredients were added. As impressed as the professor was by their tactics and skill, he was not amused.

"Black, Potter. Will you apologize for the mess you made?"

"We made no such mess," Sirius said, while at the same time James said, "I think congratulations are in order, they seem to be in better shape than they were before."

Sirius and James looked at each other and allowed themselves to laugh when they realized their stories were complete opposites. Remus didn't look up once from his cauldron.

"AUGH! POTTER, BLACK, I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN!" Lily screamed, glaring at the two boys. Remus winced at the noise, but couldn't plug his ears. "THAT WAS SO LOW OF YOU! I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU GUYS SO MUCH!"

"Now, now, Miss Evans, no need to scream," Slughorn said, and Lily immediately complied. "Anybody who has been hit by this concoction, I request that you go and see Madam Pomfrey. Ask the portrait outside this classroom for directions. I assure you these potions will not affect your grades in anyway."

The six students affected made their way to the Hospital Wing. Slughorn rounded onto the two boys who played the prank.

"Thirty points from Gryffindor, for sabotaging a potion of a fellow classmate. I would like to see you both, after class."

The four remaining groups continued to work on their potion, but James and Sirius couldn't help but pass more notes.

_Did you like our little trick? –SB_

_Excellent. –RL_

_Oh come on, Remmy! We were hoping for some words like, I didn't realize how clever you are, or the dungbomb was a brilliant addition! –SB_

_You seem to be doing a fine job telling yourself these things. And the dungbomb just made the place smell worse. –RL_

_But it was my idea! –SB_

_I realized. Seems to be your signature. –RL_

_That it is. –SB_

_It's such a low and cheap trick. You could to better than that. –RL_

_Why Rems, are you helping us? You've got the gears in our heads turning! –JP_

James threw the note towards Remus, who glared at the message and promptly began hitting his head against the table. Slughorn watched this exchange, and took the note from Remus.

"Passing notes in class?" Slughorn said. "Five points from Gryffindor, Mr Lupin."

Remus noted that he didn't take off any points from James or Sirius.

When class was nearing an end, Slughorn made his way to everyone's potions. He stopped by Randy and Mary's first, to which he gave a small nod. At Donna and Marlene's he chuckled slightly, but noted it down. Both of those potions appeared to be the right colour, a pale shade of blue. Remus looked down into his and Peter's cauldron, to see that it was a deep shade of green. When Slughorn made his way to their cauldron, he paused and stared at it for a while.

"What is this?"

Remus could see, out of the corner of his eye, Sirius and James cover their mouths in laughter. Peter appeared to be fumbling over words, so Remus took over.

"You see, sir, we had a perfect potion. But then after step one, I think things started to go downhill from there."

Slughorn chuckled and noted Remus' ability to talk smoothly under pressure, despite him being a werewolf.

"See me after class as well, Mr Lupin."

Remus widened his eyes, but gave a small nod.

Then Slughorn made his way over to James and Sirius' cauldron, and widened his eyes. It was an almost flawless potion. The only problem that seemed to be there was that it was bubbling slightly. This unnerved Slughorn, but he did not show it. He reached into the potion with a ladle and revealed a dungbomb.

"Without this ingredient," he said, chuckling. "This potion is practically perfect. I believe you two are the winners of the competition. Here it is, one bottle for you Mr Potter, of Vigoris, and one for you too, Mr Black. Class is dismissed."

James and Sirius high-fived before making their way over to Remus and Peter.

"Okay, then, I'll see you at lunch," Peter said, before leaving.

"Nice potion, Rems," James said, snickering.

"Shut up. The stench was bad and I can't handle a knife, and unfourtunately, neither can Peter. Peter added in the wrong ingredient when I wasn't looking, and the results didn't turn out too good," Remus paused and turned to Sirius. "What is your obsession with dungbombs? You put them everywhere! They smell…"

Sirius shrugged and turned towards their potions instructor.

"Right, so you are here and I would like to say I have already covered this over with the Slytherins—"

"Look, professor, please skip the niceties and tell us when our detention is," Sirius said. "I'm hungry."

"Detentions?" Slughorn raised an eyebrow. "No, I'm here to tell you that you are a talented group of students—"

"Me, sir?" Remus asked skeptically. "I believe my potion failed miserably."

"Yes you, Mr Lupin. I'm not talking talented in only potions, but in fact, in life. You boys will be going places. And with talented students, such as yourselves, I was hoping you would join me in little meetings, known as the Slug Club. Just watch for my letters!"

The three boys bit their lips and nodded.

"Very well, m'boys! I shall see you soon, I hope."

James, Sirius, and Remus hurried out of the room and burst into laughter.

"Slug club?" Sirius said. "SLUG club? What is he, like the grand Slug?"

James and Remus shook their heads in amusement, and they made their way to the Great Hall. To greet them, they met an angry Lily Evans.

"What are you playing at, messing up my potion?"

James and Sirius chose to ignore this. Remus frowned at Lily apologetically, who acknowledged him.

"I know Remus didn't do this, but have you no self control? I'll have you know you guys are just jealous warts; as soon as you saw Severus' amazing potioneering skills, you flipped! Oh just you wait, I'll outdo the two of you COMBINED!"

Sirius and James sat down as if they heard nothing.

"AUGH!" Lily screeched. "You guys only butt in when no one wants you!"

"I'll have you know everyone wants us, Evans," James said coldly. "Now, please do us both a favour and mind your own business."

"MIND MY OWN BUSINESS?" Lily was getting hysterical. "THIS IS MY BUSINESS! YOU MADE ME SPEND POTIONS CLASS IN THE HOSPITAL WING!"

"My condolences, Evans," Sirius said, not sounding sorry at all. "Now go away."

Lily huffed and got into a seemingly very interesting conversation with Mary McDonald, on the other side of the table. Remus continued to watch Lily.

"Have you got an infatuation with a fire-breathing red head, Remmy?" Sirius asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Have you got an addiction in asking me meaningless questions multiple times a day, adding on completely ridiculous nicknames?"

"Well sor-_ry_! You were just watching her, that's all."

"Nothing, just wondering what I did to be called Remus." _Okay, so that wasn't a complete lie._

"Right, okay," Sirius said. "Just curious."

By the time Charms class came around, James and Sirius were growing exhausted watching Lily's glares towards them. Remus continued to watch Lily, her hair and eyes especially. They seemed to trigger something in Remus, he was just unsure what.

Flitwick was a quiet teacher, who stood on books to speak. This was much to the amusement of the Gryffindor boys, and also many of the Ravenclaws. They were learning to make objects fly, but to demonstrate, Flitwick caused the dungbomb inside of Sirius' pocket to fly around the room and into his hands, which caused Sirius to grumble. He assigned everyone into pairs, and suggested they work together to figure out the levitation charm.

James was working with Peter, and rubbing his hair in frustration. The charm wouldn't seem to work on the white feather he was given. On his left, Sirius, who was working with Remus, gave a shout that it worked. But when Flitwick came over, he noted that the feather had been tossed into the air and not levitated.

Lily Evans was the first in the class to get the spell. She constantly glared at James and Sirius; however, she wore a smug expression. James continued to grumble in desperation to get the spell right. Eventually James got it and then Sirius, but Remus was not able to do it. Sirius reckoned it wasn't his day.

At the end of class, Flitwick assigned them an essay, and told them they would continue to work on levitation charms the next day. What shocked the boys was when Lily came rushing to them.

"So Potter, Black, it seems I've outdone the both of you."

Sirius grumbled about stupid charms without his lucky dungbomb, to which Peter snickered.

James merely held out his hand and said, "It was a good fight."

Lily was taken aback and refused to shake James' hand. Instead, she looked the Remus.

"You looked like you needed some help, Remus," Lily said, looking into Remus' eyes.

Remus held the eye contact for a bit before saying, "Nothing I can't handle…Lily…James and Sirius could help."

"Well, I was going to say that," a slight blush was starting to creep its way into Lily's cheeks. "I'm having some trouble in Defense, and you're, er, you seem like you'd be in the top of the class, so maybe we could study together? I'll help you in Charms and you help me in Defense?"

Remus gave a warm smile, "Sure. In the library at 6:00, sound good? I'll just have dinner and get ready."

Lily smiled, and Remus felt the odd feeling again. "Sure. 6. I'll see you then."

Lily skipped off and Remus eyed her intently. When he turned around, he saw three boys staring at him, their jaws dropped opened.

"You would leave us for Evans?" James asked, his voice trembling.

"NO! No, she only wanted help in Defense, that's all," Remus said, realizing what this was looking like. "And I haven't a crush, so don't even start Sirius."

"I wasn't going to," Sirius said. "But honestly, getting ready, making it sound like some sort of date."

"YOU FIEND!" Peter shouted, pointing at Remus.

"I am not a fiend, and this is not a date!" Remus said. "I'm going to want to freshen up before food."

"Uh huh," James said. "You like Evans."

"Oh Merlin! I'm bloody eleven, I don't like anyone like that! Maybe she just wants to be friends!"

"And you would leave us for a girl who is friends with a Slytherin?" Sirius demanded.

"I'M NOT LEAVING ANYONE FOR ANYONE!" Remus screamed. His patience had finally drained.

"Right, okay, sorry," Sirius said, taking a step back. Remus could be so threatening at times.

At 5:45, Remus was ready to leave the dormitory. Unfourtunately for him, he was blocked by two black-haired boys.

"Guys, I have to—"

"Go to your study date?" Sirius asked.

"No, just to go work on some of my homework," Remus said, rolling his eyes.

"Okay, that's cool, but we need to set some rules," James said. "So you don't, like, run off."

Remus blinked. "Rules?"

"Yes. We need you back here so you can be with us, and we need to explore!" James said.

"I don't want to be part of any exploration—"

"So is this proof you are leaving us for Evans?" Sirius challenged, glaring at Remus.

Remus sat back down on his bed, defeated. "Okay, the rules?"

"We need you back by 8:15, no later," James said.

"Why?"

"Why?" James asked, as if it were totally obvious. "We wouldn't want you staying out after curfew!"

"But we will be exploring after curfew," Remus pointed out.

"But that's different! You'll be all alone when you're coming back from the library, and when you're with us, you will be protected," Sirius said seriously.

"Right…protected by two people who don't know any spells…okay, next?"

"We don't want any funny business," James said.

Remus was going to question further, but then realized he probably didn't want to know what James thought could happen in the library. "Okay…"

"If you fail to comply with the rules, you will be grounded," Sirius said.

"Cool. Can I go now?"

Sirius pinched the bridge of his nose while James sighed.

"If you must."

"Thanks!" Remus said, sounding oddly as if he were James' child.

Remus left the dorm with his books and made his way to the library. He couldn't see Lily, but he felt as if he could smell her, so he followed his nose to a secluded corner. Lily was tapping her foot and watching the time very carefully.

"How late is he going to be? Augh, boys, this is all Potter's fault! Five minutes!"

Suddenly Lily turned around and saw Remus smiling at her.

"Oh, Remus!" Lily said, sounding delighted. "I've been waiting for you."

"I figured with all your incoherent mutterings," Remus said, sitting down next to Lily. "It was James and Sirius, they held me back."

"I figured they would. You're too good for them, Remus."

"Yeah, well, they're my friends," Remus said. "Roommates." He thought it better to not tell her about the deal.

"Cool. Okay, so here are my Defense notes and I was hoping you could help me with keeping my cool and what not…"

"I wanted to ask you something first," Remus blurted out, before he could stop himself.

"What is it?"

"Do you, er, get an odd feeling whenever you, er, see me?" Remus asked, realizing how dumb it sounded.

"I do, in fact, I was going to ask…" Lily said, unsure of how to continue.

The two of them locked eyes again, and the two of them scanned each other carefully.

"You're muggle-born, right? So you went to a muggle primary school? What school?" Remus finally broke the silence.

"Park View Primary…" Lily trailed off. "Remus Lupin? It reminds me of a name…could it be?...I wouldn't know…I don't remember his full name…Rem?"

Remus widened his eyes in recognition, "Yes, that's me, Lillers."

"You, you're a wizard?" Lily asked, rather lamely.

Remus chuckled, "I would assume so, I'm going to Hogwarts. Oh, Lillers, it's been so long!"

The two childhood friends hugged.

"You moved so quickly, I never got to say bye properly."

"No, but we meet again," Remus said. "I must say, I've never had any friend as close as you were before."

"Yeah…I mean, I met Severus when I was eight, he told me I was a witch…and Tuney and I were pretty close until I got my letter…well, let's just say it's been a while."

"I had this feeling, that's all. James and Sirius hardly failed to notice I was watching you. They won't shut up about this being a date."

Lily laughed. "At eleven? Those two really don't have brains. But you seem to be getting rather close."

"Close, but not that close yet. It'll take some time," Remus said, thinking about what would happen when they found out his secret.

"Well, I had this odd feeling whenever I saw you, so I finally asked. But anyway, I do need to understand this defense, can you help?"

"Sure."

"Where is he?" James said, pacing furiously. "It's 8:20. Remus is so punctual, he wouldn't be late."

"Do you think he got attacked by a Slytherin?" Peter asked.

Sirius' eyes widened with concern, "We have to go find him, James. This could be bad."

"Yeah. Stay here Peter, Sirius and I will defend ourselves…no offense."

"None taken," Peter said quickly. "You should go."

James and Sirius practically ran to the library, where they saw something that gave made James' stomach lurch. Lily was showing Remus the motion of the charm, using Remus' hand.

"You're just too firm and aggressive, Rem!" Lily said. "Loosen up. Do the charms the way I was doing the hexes."

"Sure thing Lillers."

On the next attempt Remus got the spell, and Lily gave Remus a small hug.

"That was perfect!"

Remus suddenly jerked his head and saw James and Sirius watching the two.

"Curfew is in ten minutes," James said.

Lily jumped up from her chair, "Potter?"

"Yes, me, Evans, I was just saying curfew is in ten minutes."

"Oh, right, must've lost track of time. Well, it was nice seeing you, Rem."

Remus grinned. "Good night, Lillers."

Lily ran off, leaving Remus with two boys gaping at him. Again.

"Is there something on my face?" Remus asked.

"Pet names?" James asked, sounding almost angry.

"It's nothing! Just a sign of friendship."

"Friendship?" James repeated.

"And honestly, you didn't complain with her horrid nickname!" Sirius exclaimed, receiving a shush from the librarian, Madam Pince.

"Guys, really? You're so childish."

James rolled his eyes and grabbed Remus by one arm, and Sirius grabbed the other. Remus grumbled, knowing what was to come next. But surprisingly, they didn't start marching straight away.

"No matter what you hear, you are grounded mister," Sirius said.

"Grounded?" Remus asked in a bored tone.

"Yes, grounded! I told you before that if you are late, you will be grounded."

Remus groaned and grumbled about stupid, immature, over protective friends as he was carried to the dormitory by his arms.

**A/N: You were probably worried Remus has a crush on Lily, right? Well, he has no obligations as of now...we'll see how this plays out later. Yes, I know, Lily knowing Remus from before was completely my idea and probably has no chance of happening. And it might be taking away from Lily's character. I won't deny, she's fiercely loyal, but Severus is her best friend. They don't get to hang out as much, so it's no wonder that they got absorbed in conversation so quickly that she didn't hear Nott. But we have to realize that she moves on quickly, which is shown when she tells Remus that she had plenty of other friends. And also, they were young when they knew each other, and chances are, they only really remembered each other by their nicknames. The thing is, eyes of human beings never change. **

**Yeah, and Sirius doesn't really care about his appearance THAT much, he's trying to avoid waking up Remus. He wants to seem as the hero so waits until after...But I won't deny his obsession with dungbombs.**

**Aragon's trick was real cruel, but it's just his way of greeting the class. The fact Remus has mastered Expelliarmus so fast is only because he studies the theory, but his lycanthropy might have much to do with it as well. **

**I loved Remus' Howler! That was so much fun to write!**

**If I knew all I had to do was ask for a certain number of reviews, I would have done so earlier! I know the readers are there. Let's get this to 25 reviews. I will give the update promptly. **

**I'll thank the reviewers in the next chapter as it is hard to do on my phone, but special shout out to TheWolfPatronus for the 15th review.**

**PREVIEW:**

**"Look, Rems," James said, cowering at the glare Madam Pince was sending them. "Let's just grab some books and get out of here."**

**"We can't just grab some books and get out of here," Remus pointed out. "We have to sign them out and…"**

**"Details, details," James said dismissively. "We'll just nick them. Then we'll give them back and no one'll know it's us."**

**"_What_? _Why_?" Remus asked, looking positively aghast at the thought.**

**"Because asking is what most people do. Nicking is for cool people."**


	9. Secrets From The Teachers

**A/N: And, drum roll please! The next chapter! I'm very pleased with the amount of reviews I am getting, I truly, honestly, appreciate it. This chapter was going to be even longer than it is now, so I ended up cutting it. I figured it would be easier to read anyway in one go if it was _only _6.5k words. Note the sarcasm. But, in return for the number of reviews, you guys deserve a longerish chapter.**

**Chapter 9: Secrets From The Teachers**

Sirius and James were pacing the dormitory. Remus was watching the two of them as if he had been hypnotized. Peter was doing homework, and also doing a good job of ignoring the three boys.

"So, Remus, Sirius and I have decided that your punishment for being grounded would be to accompany us everywhere," James announced.

"Really," Remus said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "What a terrible punishment. That would happen whether or not I'm grounded, anyway. It's like I'm grounded for a whole bloody seven years."

"Don't use that attitude with me," James said, glaring at Remus.

"Well sorry, mum!"

Sirius burst into laughter.

"It's…true….James…mother hen!"

Remus promptly burst into laughter as well. James merely stared at the two before shouting.

"REMUS JOHN LUPIN! HOW DARE YOU STAY AFTER HOURS AND TAKE THAT ATTITUDE! YOU ARE TO GO WASH THE DISHES THIS INSTANT!"

Sirius and Remus, who had stopped laughing while James had shouted, laughed even harder. This time, however, James joined them as well.

"You know," James said, after the laughter died down. "I have something I want to show you. My dad gave it to me, told me it would help at Hogwarts. He told me not to open it until I got settled, and I sorta forgot about it…It's some sort of family heirloom."

"Really?" Sirius asked, watching James avidly. "Well, show us! Then I'll take out my family heirloom."

"All right…"

Peter put down his homework and started to watch James.

"My parents always used to tell me that the Potter family heirloom is magnificent…not that it was brought up a lot, just because you're such an ancient pureblooded family…never mind," he said.

James pulled out brown box, in which was a small package. It was almost weightless, and the wrapping was blue. He put the package onto the ground and undid the bow that held it together. Inside was a silvery substance, which flowed on the ground. James held it up and let the material drape down.

"Well…what is it?" Remus asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

"It's a cloak…" James said, feeling the silvery material. "Some odd fashion sense my parents think me to have…very light, though."

"I think I know what it is…" Peter said, gaping at the cloak. "There's no way it could be…"

"I think I'm thinking what you're thinking, Peter," Sirius said slowly.

"What, what is it?" Remus asked, turning his back at James and looking towards Sirius and Peter. "Say something!"

"NO WAY!" Sirius and Peter gasped.

"What?" Remus said annoyed, turning back around. "JAMES?"

Yet James was nowhere in sight. It seemed as if James had left the room. Peter and Sirius began to laugh at Remus' confusion, who was starting to get frustrated.

"He can't have left…" Remus muttered, starting to grope the air. "He has to be here…unless…James, you got an invisibility cloak?"

James did not reply.

"Ugh! Peter, Sirius, do you think?"

"Yeah."

"That's what I gathered."

"He didn't exactly keep it a secret when he put on the cloak.

"Okay, James, we got your secret…come out!" Remus called.

James did not reply, but Remus could sense something looming behind him. Despite his intuition, when James lurched at him behind his back, he still screamed.

"MERLIN'S BEARD, POTTER!" Remus screamed, startled and breathing heavily. "Don't do that."

James was laughing along with the two other boys as he took off the cloak.

"Bloody hell, James, that was not funny!" Remus said, although he started to chuckle.

"Blimey," James said after he sobered. "I never thought my dad would pass me on something like this!"

"He's cooler than you thought, James!" Sirius said, as excited as James. "You know what we can do with this, right?"

"Oh no, no, no, no!" Remus said, his eyes widening. "That sounds like an awful idea!"

Remus was ignored.

"It's going to be so much fun!" James exclaimed. "All of Hogwarts is open to us! Our exploring will most definitely be made easier!"

"It's big enough to hold many people as well!" Sirius said.

"So what are we waiting for?"

"I don't want to come," Remus said.

"No, you're coming, Remmy. That's what friends do," Sirius said, rolling his eyes as if it was the most obvious thing. "Hey, Pete, you coming?"

"Why does Peter get a choice?"

"Yeah! It'll be fun, won't it?" Peter said, jumping excitedly.

"I refuse to go," Remus said, crossing his arms stubbornly.

"Great!" James said, opening the cloak. "Come on, Rems, it'll be great! I bet there're loads of secret passages we can uncover!"

"No. You guys can't make me go," Remus sat down on his bed.

Sirius and James exchanged looks before pining Remus' arms behind his back. Sirius pushed him to James, and James held the struggling Remus tightly.

"Let me go!"

Remus was ignored, and Sirius led the way out of the common room and into the dark hallways of Hogwarts.

"This is stupid," Remus muttered. "Stupid friends with stupid ideas that'll put us in stupid detention and this stupid cloak is going to stupidly hide us so my stupid friends will have more stupid ideas…"

"Remus, shut up, you're going to get us caught," James muttered. "Then we'll really be in stupid detention, as you put it."

"Well this is stupid. I'm being taken around like a stupid prisoner!"

"SHH!" Sirius said, covering Remus' mouth. "Let's keep going."

Remus licked Sirius' hand to get him to move.

"EUGH!" Sirius said, removing his hand instantly and rubbing it against his robes. "You licked me."

"Why, yes, I do believe I did. But I should be saying eugh. Think of where your finger's been."

"Shut up," Peter whispered, but with a force that made the two boys silent.

The four of them made their way through the halls, barely able to see anything. The cloak itself, they found, made them rather near-sighted, and three of the boys were unable to see anything in the dark. Remus, because of his heightened senses, had no trouble seeing in the dark, but he couldn't point out much that he saw without attracting unnecessary attention to his lycanthropy.

Suddenly Remus let out a gasp, and James flinched and instinctively held Remus tighter. Sirius and Peter seemed to be frozen, staring forward.

"We're invisible, we're invisible," Peter chanted softly, whilst taking deep breaths.

A cat was staring at the area in which the four invisible boys were standing.

"It senses us," Remus whispered. "James, let go of me, I know a spell."

James let go of Remus without protest and Remus stuck the tip of the wand outside of the cloak.

"Confundus."

The cat stared at the wand for a moment before appearing dazed, then started to walk in circles unsurely, and then crashed into a wall. Purring softly, it left the corridor.

Before Remus could have a chance to celebrate over his successful hex, James had pined his arms back to his body.

"Oh, come on, James," Remus whined. "Let go of me."

"Ah, but then you'd run off," James said wisely.

Remus rolled his eyes and let himself go limp under James' grasp.

They continued to march around the school – except for Remus, who was being dragged – but were unable to discover anything. Peter checked his watch.

"Guys, we've been walking for awhile. Let's just call it a night," Peter said.

Sirius groaned, but figured Peter was right.

"Come on, then."

They made their way back to the common room, but stopped at the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Damn!" James muttered, kicking the portrait.

"We've the worst of luck!" Remus said, freeing his hands from James' grasp.

"Shut up!" Sirius hissed. "We'll get caught."

"Either way we'll get caught! I think a teacher will notice if there are four boys standing outside their common room!"

"It's not our fault the Fat Lady ran off, though," Peter said.

"Are you bloody mental? This is a scheme, trying to get us caught!"

""Besides, Pete," James said. "What are we supposed to tell the teachers?"

"That we had to go to the bathroom…?" Peter responded, beaming at his clever idea.

Sirius rolled his eyes, "The bathroom, Pete? We've a bathroom in our dormitory."

"What is with your fascination with bloody bathrooms?" James asked curiously.

"Well…" Peter started, about to answer the question when he paused. "I'm not going to tell you! Okay, well, we could tell the teacher that we forgot the password."

"You're kidding, right?" Sirius asked, seeming worried. "Tell me you're kidding." Peter stared on blankly, unable to find what was wrong with his brilliant idea. "Pete! It may work for you, but all four of us won't forget the sodding password!"

"Both of you!" Remus hissed without thinking. "Someone's coming!"

The group fell silent, but James strained to try and hear who was coming.

"I don't hear anything."

Remus winced, although in the dark no one could see.

"Trust me."

The Fat Lady walked into her frame, but the boys were too busy being paranoid over the teacher who was walking by to notice.

"What are you boys doing out here?" The Fat Lady asked, a little too loudly.

"Ahh!" Peter screamed falling to the ground.

Remus slammed his hand over Peter's mouth.

"Tiddly Wigs…Shut up, Peter!" Remus said.

The Fat Lady did not open up.

"It's Filch, damn it!" James hissed, catching sight of the lantern. "And his bloody cat!"

"Tiddly Wigs!" Sirius shouted. "Open up! Filch sees us!"

"Oh, yes, all right," the Fat Lady yawned and admitted the boys.

The boys did not stop running until they reached their dormitory, and flopped down on their respective beds.

"That was bloody awesome!" Sirius said cheerfully. "I mean the thrill of nearly getting caught…"

"It was fun! So, Rems, what d'ya think?" James asked, seeming just as happy as Sirius.

Remus stared at the two boys.

"Fun? _Fun_? Are you two insane? _FUN_?"

"Yeah, Remus, I think that is what they said," Peter reckoned matter-of-factly.

"How could that have been fun?" Remus demanded to know, swiftly ignoring Peter.

Sirius shrugged, "You had fun too, even though you don't want to admit it. Anyway, _we_ are planning a prank."

Remus' eyes lit up, but he quickly tried to cover it up. This, however, did not go unnoticed by Peter.

"Oh, Remus!" Peter said, grinning. "You want to help with the prank? I am!"

"Er, no, no I shouldn't…" Remus mumbled, going red and turning towards his bed.

"I saw the look in your eyes, Remus!" Peter called out. "You were excited. Come have fun."

James and Sirius looked up.

"His hidden prankster side!" Sirius and James yelled ecstatically.

Remus crossed his arms and turned around.

"I am not a bloody prankster like you guys!"

James and Sirius had knowing look in their eyes when they made eye contact. Remus didn't like this look, and quickly realized what was coming.

"NO!" Remus said, widening his eyes. "No, bad move, I don't want to be lifted…"

Remus' protests meant nothing to James and Sirius, and they grabbed him by his arms and plopped him on the floor. Remus grumbled, but there was no mistaking the small spark of excitement in his eye.

"Well," James said. "Whatever it is, we're hoping to get it done by the day after tomorrow for show—"

"—tomorrow," Sirius said, smirking. "It's passed midnight."

Remus laughed, "I've got an idea. Tomorrow, let's go to the library."

The four of them got straight to planning on a piece of parchment; Remus never realized that Sirius and James could work so diligently.

After about an hour, they finished planning out the prank and got into their respective beds. It was all silent, perfect for dozing off, until James decided to break the calming silence.

"HEY!"

"What, James?" Sirius snapped. "I was going to sleep."

"Woah, testy testy…" James mocked, but stopped when Sirius glared at him. "Sorry, I just remembered that you didn't show us your family heirloom."

"Oh yeah," Sirius said, standing up. "I'll go get it."

While Sirius got up, Remus and Peter sat up in their beds, and made their way over to James' bed. Sirius rummaged through his trunk for a couple of seconds before pulling out a deep, green box.

The box was lined with velvet on the outside, and had the black crest imprinted in the middle. Directly under the crest was written in a silver lettering: Toujours Pur. The border was lined with light green and silver snakes. The box appeared to be in good shape, but the edges were slightly tattered, showing that the box was a little old.

As Sirius opened the box with an uneasy grin, the silver hinges gave a small creak. In the box lay a locket, on the cover having the black family crest. Sirius pulled out the locket and opened it, revealing small writing around a snake: Toujours Pur.

"Wow," James whispered. "It's beautiful."

"But it's Slytherin-esque," Peter pointed out. "What does 'Toujours Pur' mean?"

"Always pure," Sirius answered without any hesitation.

Sirius handed the locket over to Remus, who brushed a gentle hand over the expensive chain. At this, Sirius suddenly stood up.

"What happened?" Remus asked, alarmed.

Sirius didn't reply.

"What's up, mate?" James stood up and put a comforting arm over Sirius' shoulder.

"Nothing…" Sirius said, unconvincingly.

Peter lounged back in the bed.

"Even I could see through _that_ lie, Sirius," Peter said.

Sirius rolled his eyes.

"I just don't think I'm worthy of the locket. I don't want it."

"But…" Remus started, his eyes wide. "It's such a beautiful locket, and aren't you Black family heir?"

Sirius sighed, "It's not for me. I'm not a Slytherin, nor do I believe in our motto. I shouldn't have this locket. I'll send it back to Mother and Father."

Remus reluctantly held out the locket for Sirius to take, which he grudgingly took. With one last look of the locket, Sirius put it back in the case and stuffed it back into his suitcase. With that, he sat on his bed.

"Well," James said, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had emerged. "I'd reckon your family heirloom isn't quite up there with mine!"

Sirius let out a weak chuckle.

"Oh come on, Siri," Remus said, calling Sirius by his hated nickname on purpose. "We just snuck out, heck I even came with you prats, then we planned a prank, which I once again joined in because of you bloody prats, and are going to go to the library together, which is going to be a dream come true, so I just don't see what is there to be unhappy about!"

Sirius laughed, "You're right…just gonna send this thin' back to –"

"Thing."

"—my folks and wish I could see their reaction," Sirius said, ignoring Remus.

James smiled and Remus, happy that he had been able to remind Sirius to be happy. But during the reminiscing, Peter pointed out the time. It was very late, or very early, actually, and the four mischievous boys needed their sleep.

* * *

><p>The next day, James, Sirius, and Peter were all up and about. The looked over to Remus' bed and groaned. Remus was asleep. And Remus doesn't wake up when he is asleep. Rather annoying. But the worst part was that class started five minutes ago.<p>

"You wake him up!" James cried. "I refuse to wake up Remus."

"I'm not doing it! I did it yesterday," Sirius said. "Peter, you do it!"

"I don't have enough skill to do it," Peter said sadly.

"Pete! You wake up Remus. It doesn't take skill!"

"I don't want to!"

"Damn it!" James said. "SOMEONE WAKE UP REMUS!"

"Not it!" the three of them screamed at the same time.

"He hasn't even woken up despite all of this rubbish talking we've been doing," Sirius moaned. "We're going to miss breakfast! We can't miss breakfast! It's the most important meal of the day!"

"Why did we have to sneak out?" Peter whined. "I'm tired…"

"Remus, wake up!"

Remus stirred but _did not_ wake up.

"We're late for class, _someone _just do it," James muttered.

"If you're so keen, then why don't _you_ just do it?" Sirius pointed out.

"I'm not doing it. It's not my turn."

"Together, then?" Peter asked.

"Hey, good idea Peter!" Sirius said, grinning. "One, two, three!"

The three boys jumped on top of Remus, and he screamed.

"OW! WHAT THE HECK, GUYS! GET OFF ME!"

James, Sirius, and Peter hopped off and grinned cheekily at Remus.

"What the hell, guys? Why'd you have to wake me up in such a rough way? I'm going to sleep."

"Bloody hell, Remmy! Look at the time!" Sirius said, jerking Remus up so that he didn't fall asleep.

Remus widened his eyes.

"Why didn't you guys wake me earlier?" Remus shouted, jumping out of bed and hurrying to the bathroom.

James looked to his two other roommates.

"Is he getting mad at us for not waking him up on time? This is mental…"

Remus was ready in five minutes.

"Let's go! We're late!" he cried, panicking and running out of the dormitory.

"Remmy, calm down!" Sirius said, looking mildly amused. "We waited for you, the least you can do is wait for us!"

Remus looked down at the floor, embarrassed.

"Sorry…"

"Well, we do have to go to class, let's go!" James exclaimed.

"Hey, wait," Sirius said, looking thoughtful. "Wouldn't it be funny, if, like, we ditched?"

James looked excited at this idea, but Remus was spluttering.

"Are you…no! No…that is crazy! No! I refuse!"

Peter laughed. "Sorry guys, but I'm with Remus here. It's only the third day, for crying out loud!"

Sirius seemed disappointed, but James pushed him out the door.

"We are _so _late," Remus moaned. "Why?"

"Well," Peter said. "We did go exploring so we went to bed late. Then James, Sirius, and me woke up—"

"—and I," Remus corrected, before he could stop himself.

"_and I_ – there, happy? – late because we were tired and then you wouldn't wake up."

"So it's your fault, Rems," James said, nodding his head importantly.

"My fault?" Remus asked with disbelief. "You were the ones who wanted to go exploring, so it's all your fault!"

"Who cares whose fault it was? I want to ditch potions to go to the library," Sirius declared.

"Sirius, you fool, it'll look suspicious," Remus hissed. "Due to your Dungbombs, the teachers already suspect you!"

"So are you saying this is _my_ fault?"

"Yes!"

"Guys, quit bickering! I'm opening the door."

The four Gryffindor boys stayed silent whilst James opened the door.

"Oho! M'boys!" Slughorn said, happily.

"Sorry we're late, Sluggy," Sirius said, smirking.

"Not at all, not a problem, m'boys!"

"We were only late because of—" James started, a glint in his eye.

"James," Remus said, grinning. "James made us late."

"Oh! Not a problem, m'boy! Just going to work on the theory today!"

The four boys looked at each other, pursing their lips to avoid laughing and sat down at the back.

"So, I want you all to read the textbook, page eighteen, if you please."

The boys took out their books, and started to read. The potions book was rather dry.

_The Vigoris potion is one of the simplest potions to mankind. It gives the drinker a sense of energy mentally, although physically it does not provide any sort of measure of energy. The emotional state of the wizard or witch in question plays a major role in determining whether or not the potion will work. It does not give the drinker the same consequences had the drinker elected to take a nap. Sirius Black is the best creature to ever walk this planet. Had the dr—_

"Wait a second!" Remus whispered in awe, dragging his finger over the line.

_Sirius, what is this? –RL_

_D'you like it, lil Remmy? –SB_

_Nice spell. Don't call me Remmy or lil. –RL_

_Bad move, Remus. –PP_

_But you are lil and a Remmy. –SB_

_Shut up. What was this spell? –RL_

_Impressed? –SB_

_… –RL_

_Okay…after we explored, I flipped through our Charm book and found this nifty spell. –SB_

_Funny. –RL_

_You think so? –JP_

_Shut up, James. –SB_

_It'll be funny for a prank. People might think they're going crazy. –RL_

_Remus Lupin: suggesting a prank? I can see the headlines now! –SB_

_I think we're going to successfully corrupt him! –JP_

_I'm not corrupted! –RL_

_I beg to differ. –SB_

_You're going to make Remus mad…don't do that. –PP_

_Thank you, Peter! –RL_

_Fine, fine, whatever Remus says goes, apparently. –SB_

_Are you insane? I had to go exploring with you against my will, my arms being pined against my sides! And you have the audacity to claim that whatever I say goes?! –RL_

_Calm down, Rems…but exploring was great fun last night, wasn't it? –JP_

_Sure… –RL _

_See, I told you he liked it! –SB_

_That was sarcastic. –RL_

_Oh. –SB_

_Yeah, sarcasm doesn't bode too well on parchment. –JP_

_We stayed up a lot later than we should have… –RL_

_So? –JP_

_I thought it was disappointing that we didn't find anything that could potentially be useful or fun. –RL_

_I agree! We have to go exploring again soon! –SB_

Remus looked over the note and tried to hide a grin at Sirius' excitement. Unfortunately, Slughorn walked by at that second.

"And what, Mr Lupin, is so amusing about the Vigoris potion?"

"Nothing, sir, nothing," Remus said quickly, a little too quickly. Besides, the fact he was hiding the piece of paper in his pocket was not helping any matters pertaining to his innocence.

"What is on that paper, m'boy?" Slughorn asked, looking uncannily serious.

"Nothing, sir, nothing."

"You should be studying potions. Give me the notes you were passing."

Remus kept his face blank and brought out the piece of parchment. He was very worried, and praying that he would randomly learn a spell that would make the parchment blank. Unfortunately, this was not a fairy tale and in fact real life, so he did not get to randomly learn a spell in the nick of time.

"This parchment, sir?"

Slughorn nodded.

Remus turned to look at his roommates, who were all looking very nervous. In fact, Peter was shaking and had gone very pale. The issue with these notes was that it was proof that they were not in bed after curfew. This could easily mean detentions, and from Minnie as well.

Sighing, Remus ripped the parchment to shreds, and stuffed a couple into his mouth so that it could not be repaired. Slughorn widened his eyes.

James, Sirius, and Peter were all shocked. Sirius seemed to look approvingly at Remus, James purely startled, and Peter thankful and disgusted.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr Lupin."

Remus gave a small smile, before going on a coughing spree.

"Go to the bathroom, Mr Lupin. If you continue to not feel well, go to the Hospital Wing."

Remus gave a nod, still coughing, and ran to the bathroom. Sirius was in hysterics.

* * *

><p>The four boys were just outside the library, after meeting up with Remus.<p>

"That was excellent," Peter said. "I was worried."

"Yeah, mate, how'd that parchment taste?" Sirius asked, grinning.

"Haha," Remus said sarcastically. "Brilliant. Should make a Bertie Botts flavour."

"I'm sure it probably is, quick thinking on your part," James admitted. "I don't know what I would've done."

"Whoop de doo for me, then."

The four boys stopped outside the library, and Remus casually walked in. After a couple steps, however, he realized that he was alone.

"You guys coming?"

Sirius looked rather pale.

"Are you feeling all right?"

"I'm not going in there…"

Remus threw up his hands, exasperated.

"Oh for the love of Merlin! James, Peter, you get in here, then!"

"Shh!" Madam Pince hissed, and Remus went red.

"I'm not going in there…" James said, stepping back.

Remus glared and pulled Sirius into the library. James saw this as an excellent opportunity to attempt to "save" Sirius, but after a look towards Remus, he thought the better of it. Instead, he willingly entered the perilous library. Peter followed, seeming indifferent to the location.

"This is creepy…all the paper staring at me…" Sirius moaned, seeming paranoid.

"Shut up, Sirius," Remus snapped.

"But Remmy…" Sirius whined. "Those dry pages, threatening me to become like them…too many…"

"Sirius, what did I just say?"

"Look, Rems," James said, cowering at the glare Madam Pince was sending them. "Let's just grab some books and get out of here."

"We can't just grab some books and get out of here," Remus pointed out. "We have to sign them out and…"

"Details, details," James said dismissively. "We'll just nick them. Then we'll give them back and no one'll know it's us."

"_What_? _Why_?" Remus asked, looking positively aghast at the thought.

"Because asking is what most people do. Nicking is for cool people."

"Now who came up with—"

"Ssh!" the librarian hissed again.

Resigning to his fate, Remus allowed his friends to pick out books and 'nick' them from the library. Well, almost all. Sirius was hiding behind Remus' back as if the books were some bloody monster. Literally.

Remus selected a few and gave them to Peter, who was all too eager to start nicking the books from the library like the 'cool' people did.

They made their way out of the library; Sirius had sprinted out and started jumping with joy. Remus merely rolled his eyes.

When they were back in the dormitory, they poured over many of the books. Remus learned many great, productive things: Swishing your wand fast makes sparks come out, Peter likes cheese, whippy wands don't do well for dueling, Peter likes cake, James wand is good for Transfiguration, and Sirius reads fast. As well, they picked up a couple of their spells for a prank to play tomorrow at dinner.

When the four friends got to the Great Hall, however, even Sirius was tired.

"Never again…" he moaned.

"Can we, like, skip dinner?" James asked, his eyes heavily drooping.

"We probably couldn't," Remus pointed out. "Because you and Sirius have successfully created a reputation that would probably have the teachers suspicious. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they suspect us to pull a prank."

"Please, Remmy…" Sirius mumbled. "Cover up for us?"

Remus took a look at James and Sirius' tiredness and decided that would be what he'd do.

"Make Pete do it," he snapped. "I'm tired and I'm not hungry."

"I'll just get something quick and easy to eat," Peter said. "And I'll bring some for you guys…"

James and Sirius nodded gratefully, but Remus had the strange feeling where Peter probably wouldn't be able to cover up properly. Nonetheless, the three friends turned around and headed back to their dormitory.

"You know," Remus said. "It's kind of sad we walked all the way down here. It was so pointless."

* * *

><p>James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus all decided to take quick naps, after they had eaten some of the food Peter had brought up. However, for the first time in the history of the 1971-1972 Hogwarts school year, Remus woke up at 10:45 pm, and was the only one awake.<p>

"CRAP!" he yelled, startled. "How could we have forgotten?"

James, Sirius, and Peter stirred, but didn't get up.

"YOU THICKHEADS! GET UP, WE'VE ASTRONOMY!"

Peter awoke with a start.

"What?"

"WE'RE LATE FOR CLASS!" Remus screeched hysterically.

James stirred and opened his eyes.

"What's with all the ruckus?"

"ASTRONOMY!"

James' eyes widened, "Oh damn."

James grabbed a very disgruntled Sirius by the arm and pulled him out of bed. Sirius kept his arm to himself, and looked _very_ confused.

"What the hell, James!"

"We have astronomy."

Sirius groaned, "Damn. We've to wake up Remus. You do it!"

Remus turned around, looking affronted.

"I'm already awake, you eejit!"

"Bloody hell, calm down, Lupin!" Sirius exclaimed, stepping back and putting his hands in the air. James and Peter seemed to find this rather amusing. "Shut up, guys."

However, when the time came to leave the Common Room, Sirius had a brilliant idea.

"Hey, Remmy, ya sleepy?" he asked seriously.

"Yes…" Remus said slowly, quite unsure of where this was going.

"Wanna ditch? James, Pete as well?"

James and Peter nodded while Remus shook his head furiously.

"Sorry, mate. Outvoted."

"I'm always outvoted," Remus muttered. "Well, too bad. I'm going to class and you can't stop me."

Sirius shared a knowing look at James, and this hardly went unnoticed by Remus, who widened his eyes and ran out of the Common Room.

"Damn, he's fast," Peter whispered in awe.

"Cover for us!" James called, and Remus looked back and nodded.

"Perfect. Now, 'tis bedtime," Sirius said. "I'm sleeping."

"Well, I'm excited for the prank!" Peter exclaimed as they made their way back to the dormitory.

"Us too, Pete. Us too," James said, smirking. "It'll be rather funny. At the feast, right?"

Sirius nodded, "Let's hope Remus actually does his part."

"He will. I mean, it's not like him to stop halfway. Besides, he helped us learn quite a few of the spells…"

However, when they woke up the next morning at settled down to talk to Remus about astronomy, he had woken up with a start.

"Hey, Remmy, what's up?" Sirius asked, concerned. "You woke up too fast."

Remus blinked his eyes drowsily, "I'm fine…"

Remus, however, seemed paler than usual, but it didn't seem to affect him. He still had his mood swings, and he still seemed to have a sense of dry humour.

Together, the four of them went to breakfast – on time and not early for a change – and ate their food. Peter, Remus, Sirius, and James seemed to be oddly giddy. They could see some of the teachers exchanging furtive glances, and eventually Professor Sinistra walked up to the group.

"Hello, Professor," Remus said politely. "Can I call you Aury?" He didn't give the Professor a chance to reply. "Excellent."

"No, Mr Lupin," Sinistra said, looking sternly at him. "I am, in fact, here to speak to your friends."

Remus pouted, "Aw, Aury…I thought I meant more to you!"

James and Peter was stifling laughs, but Sirius went all out in laughing.

"Not now, Mr Lupin," Sinistra said, rolling her eyes. "You three boys, stop laughing. I want to know why you missed class."

"Well, Miss Aury – I can call you that, right? – well, anyway, we figured sleep was important and we all _know_ how important it is that we focus on our studies, and to do that, we need to have the appropriate amount of sleep," Sirius said, sounding earnest.

"Might I remind you that you only had two classes yesterday and had plenty of time for napping? Sleep is no excuse to miss Astronomy," Sinistra said, annoyed at the boys.

"It's not very easy to fall asleep in the broad daylight, though, Professor," Peter pointed out.

"The beds have curtains."

"I'd feel claustrophobic," James said.

Remus was biting his lip; in fact, he wouldn't have been surprised if it had started to bleed.

Sinistra glanced hopelessly at McGonagall, who was massaging her forehead.

"Well, don't let me catch you missing my class again."

"Will do, Aury!" Sirius said cheerfully.

Remus burst into laughter, clutching his stomach and trying to hold it in. But it was rather difficult.

Sinistra rolled her eyes and walked off, deciding that Sirius was a hopeless case to talk to.

As the four made their way to Charms, they seemed to be having difficulty keeping still. Each one was anxious about the prank they were about to play in the evening.

"What, Mr Black, is so humorous about levitation charms?" Flitwick asked, blatantly annoyed by Sirius' constant laughter.

"Sorry, Proflitwick," Sirius said. "James, here, was tickling me with his feather."

Flitwick raised an eyebrow, but chose not to comment.

_Guys, we have to act good. –RL_

_Okay. –PP_

_For the prank. –JP_

_Whatever Remmy says goes. –SB_

_Shut up, Sirius! –RL_

* * *

><p>McGonagall sat down at her desk, dreading the fact she would have the First Year Gryffindors and Slytherins next period. She had never dreaded having a certain class so badly. She had already planned to confiscate the dungbomb in Sirius Black's pocket, but she couldn't stop the horrid nicknames those students had come up with for her. Even the Prewett twins knew when to stop!<p>

She watched as the seats got filled, and got up to teach, while keeping a wary eye on the Gryffindor boys.

"And the incantation would be – Mr Black, may I have that dungbomb which is currently hidden in the depths of your pocket?"

"How'd she know it was there?" Sirius hissed, although willingly handing over the four dungbombs that were in his pocket.

"Honestly, Sirius, it's not that hard to guess," James whispered. "Now shh…"

McGonagall eyed the dungbombs warily, much to the amusement of Remus and Peter. Eventually, McGonagall used her wand to take the dungbombs out of Sirius' hand, and then tried to reveal other prank supplies from Sirius.

"Honestly…_Professor_…I've given you everything," Sirius said, his eyes bright and amused.

McGonagall was quite unnerved when Sirius had called her by her title, although then she thought the better of it. She was a strict teacher, and many students knew not to mess with her. Knowing Hogwarts rumour train, someone probably warned the boys not to mess with her. Perhaps the Gryffindor boys were not as bad after all. Maybe they actually were going to try and behave in front of her, and she would no longer have to dread having them in a class.

At the end of the class, James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus all stood up and started to pack their bags. They did not rush out of the class.

"How was that, Rems?" James whispered.

"Pretty good, if we keep this up, you won't be suspected. Pete, you have to stop shaking though."

Peter gave a small nod. However, when the four got to the door, McGonagall called to them.

"But, Professor," James said, bewildered. "We didn't do anything wrong."

"Yes, I am quite aware of that, Mr Potter. Ten points to Gryffindor for your good behaviour. Now off to lunch."

James grinned as they walked out of the classroom.

"I think it's working," he hissed.

Remus nodded, though trying to keep his face passive. He was starting to get an insane headache. He slowed down his pace.

Sirius turned around. "Hey, Remmy, hurry up!"

Remus rolled his eyes and didn't go any faster.

"Come on, Remmy, I'm hungry!"

"Well, think about something that's not your stomach then," Remus snapped.

Sirius exchanged glances with James and Peter, who both shrugged.

"Fine, then," Sirius said, stomping over to Remus.

Remus mentally slapped himself for thinking Sirius was actually going to be considerate and slow down to walk next to him. Sirius grabbed Remus' legs, and in concern, Remus jumped Sirius' back. Sirius jogged to catch up with James. Other than the constant fear of Sirius dropping him, Remus felt rather relieved that he didn't have to focus on walking.

"FOOD FOOD FOOD!" Sirius huffed. "When did the bloody Great Hall get so far away?"

James chuckled, "Not our problem you decided to take it upon yourself to carry Remus to the Great Hall."

"Oh yeah," Peter said, a small evil glint crossing his eye. "The way a boyfriend would help his girlfriend in a time of need."

Sirius sent a heated glare at his chubby friend while Peter and James high fived. He expected Remus to have some sort of a spazz attack, but he was resting quietly on his back.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever Pete," Sirius mumbled, but with the power stating that this conversation was _over_. "But, FOOD!"

As the Great Hall doors came into sight, Sirius ran to the Gryffindor table, where he sat Remus down.

"Thank you, Sirius," Remus said politely, although his cheeks were red.

"No problem, lil Remmy!" Sirius said cheerfully as he started to pile the food onto his plate.

"No, I don't reckon it should've been a problem," Remus said quietly, and Sirius gave all his attention towards him. "The problem would've occurred had you failed at the task required."

"_Remmy_!" Sirius said, pouting. "You know I'd never do that to you!"

"My apologies for thinking so low of you, _Siri_," Remus said, gently picking up one piece of chicken and placing it on his plate.

Sirius grumbled something incoherent due to the fact his mouth was full.

James and Peter walked into the Hall, but not before James blew some kisses to the people staring at them. Him and Peter sat down across from Sirius and Remus.

"I'm excited for dinner!" Peter whispered, quite giddily.

"Yes, Pete, we all are," James said, matching Peter in volume. "But _please_, keep it on the down low."

"Oh, right, sorry. It's just, I've never played a prank before!"

"Peter," James said, taking a breath. "Do us a favour right now, and _shut up_."

Peter obliged and started to stuff his face. Remus and James caught eyes and rolled them, as if on cue.

"WAIT A MINUTE!" James suddenly yelled out, jumping from the table.

The whole Hall went quiet, staring at James, who seemed to absorbed in his thoughts to notice this excellent phenomenon.

**A/N: Any guesses on what just hit James' mind? I'd love to hear them. I think 35 reviews should be a decent goal before the next chapter. So, if you didn't get the hint already, REVIEW! Oh, and what are your thoughts on the previews for the next chapters that I've been adding. Do you like them? Usually when I read fanfics I appreciate them...but whatever majority of you all say, I'll do.**

**Now, to thank my reviewers! And there's a good number of them too :D!**

**lilaisawesome: I thank you for your review! And I fixed the problem with the Howler capitalization in the prior chapters too; thank you for pointing that out.**

**MelodyPond77: Thank you for your review. I hope I fixed some of the grammar issues here. This story is self-edited though, and I'm trying to the best of my ability. And you all should check out her HP stories. She's got this really good one about a dark!Albus Severus Potter.**

**Guest: Thanks for the review! And about Remus' temper, I'm trying to make it slowly go away as time goes on as to give the character some sort of character development.**

**TheWolfPatronus: Thanks for both your reviews :) I updated as soon as I got the email of your review, and I was on my phone at the time! But I keep my promises :p**

**zzz4730: Thanks for all six of your reviews! (man, you must have really wanted an update :D) I'm glad my story amused you so! And, as I hope I proved here, I do read _every _one of them, and they make me feel great, whether it be criticism or favourites.**

**I Heart StarTrek: Thanks for your review! And really, your first Marauder era story? It's the best era ever! I hope this story inspires you to read more!**

**moony4life: Thanks for the review! I am so happy that this is your favourite HP fic, that makes me soooooo happy! I should actually throw a party :D  
><strong>

**GabbiGrl: Thanks for your reviews in both this story and Realization. I'm glad you're liking this story because it is thorough. The reason I got a ff account in the first place was for this story because I was unable to find a detailed story on the Marauders school days that is not abandoned. This will be a story that I _will _finish, as I have many ideas. I hope to have at least 75k words (most likely more) for every year, and it will all be incorporated within this one fanfiction, not in multiple. As far as how I update, as of now, as soon as I get the reviews, the story should be up. During my exam time, I hope to have the next chapters written in advance so I can just update from my phone when the review comes in. It shouldn't go for like 2 weeks without an update though.**

* * *

><p><strong>PREVIEW:<strong>

**In fact, the only thing that seemed to put a damper on the mood was McGonagall's glare.**

**"BLACK!"**

**"Hey, why does he get all the credit?" James asked, pouting.**


	10. Flying Lessons and Insanity

**A/N: Another chapter! And now, the solution to my lame "cliffhanger" (when you see what it is, you can't even call it that), which no one got, since it was so lame. I do hope it was well worth the wait, I'm really sorry, but I haven't really been near a computer this past week. But, it's done! So, without further ado, bring on Chapter 10!**

**Chapter 10: Flying Lessons and Insanity**

Remus attempted to cast a worried glance at Sirius or Peter, but none of them seemed to share his views. Instead, he ended up catching eyes with Lily, who was staring at James as if he had sprouted eighteen more heads.

"What is it, James?" Sirius asked, grinning madly. "It better be good!"

"FLYING LESSONS!"

"OH YEAH!" Sirius said, jumping up as well. "QUIDDITCH!"

Peter, however, went very pale.

"I don't know if I want to fly," he muttered softly to Remus.

Remus gave a warm smile. "Not to worry, Pete. It's no problem to just try. Now, to shut these dummies up…have you the manual, Pete? I seem to have misplaced mine."

Peter grinned. "Ooh, bad mistake there, Remus. We all know of my memory."

"AND WRONSKI FEINTS!"

"PORKSOFF PLAYS!"

"DIVES!"

"SWERVES!"

"Damn," Remus muttered. "SHUT UP!"

James and Sirius locked eyes and wore identical stupid grins.

"We are talking broomsticks here, Rems."

"Something you need a normal brain to understand, lil Remmy."

The two went back to yelling random things that had to do with flying. Remus groaned while Peter snickered.

"So much for not attracting too much attention to themselves. Oh, where's Minnie when you need her?" Remus whined.

"At the staff table, glaring at James and Sirius," Peter replied, glancing at the very angry professor.

"BLACK AND POTTER! STOP YELLING THIS INSTANCE!" McGonagall screamed. Remus winced and plugged his fingers in his ears so hard that he was almost certain that they started to bleed.

James and Sirius ceased yelling immediately, and looked at McGonagall with wide and innocent eyes.

"Sorry, Professor Minnie," Sirius muttered.

"Yeah, we got carried away. We'll try to keep behaving," James added.

Much of the Hall was staring at Sirius and James with much confusion. The pranksters were apologizing for their mistakes? Rita had written this down and had her quill poised to the parchment, while Quintin seemed rather disappointed.

McGonagall gave a tight-lipped smile, which, in fact, was so small that it could have been easily missed. James and Sirius sat down and went back to quietly eating their food. Within seconds, the common Great Hall chatter started up again.

McGonagall casually strolled up to where the four First Year Gryffindor boys were sitting.

"Five points to Gryffindor for the enthusiasm shown for a class. I hope this enthusiasm translates to talent," she said fondly, before walking out of the Great Hall.

The four boys simply stared at the retreating back of their Head of House.

"Blimey," James whispered in awe. "She really does like you."

Sirius merely laughed.

"Nevertheless," Remus said. "We're going to need our strength to fly, so I declare naptime!"

James and Sirius caught each other's eyes.

"Er, no," James said sternly.

"We do _not _want to have to deal with the aftereffects of naptime," Sirius added.

Remus gave a dramatic sigh.

"Whatever. At least let's leave."

"But I'm not done," Peter whined as he grabbed more food.

"Hey, Rem," Lily said, having walked over to the boys of her year. "Wanna go do—"

"—want to," Remus corrected before he could stop himself. Peter and Sirius snickered, but James was glaring daggers at Lily.

"Fine, want to," Lily sighed. "Do you _want to_ go do our Charms work now?"

"_No_, he does not. The answer is _no_," James spat.

"Er, James, I think I will," Remus said slowly.

"No one asked you, _Potter_," Lily said, raising her volume up a notch, coincidentally ignoring Remus.

"Don't talk to your fellow Gryffindor like that!" Sirius all but shouted, while pulling out his wand.

"Er, guys," Peter said quietly, standing up. "Let's continue this outside. Before the Hall starts staring."

Peter pushed the his peers out of the Hall, unfourtunately, ending up attracting quite a bit of attention from the other students.

"Why don't you go do your work with _Sev_?" James sneered.

"Shut up, Potter! Don't talk about things you don't understand!" Lily exclaimed.

"Guys, I don't mind working with Lillers," Remus said quietly.

"You gonna back-stab us as well?" Sirius asked, rounding on Remus.

Remus looked down to the floor, seeming very downcast.

"I don't understand!" Lily screamed. "I want to work with a fellow housemate!"

"No," James retorted, hovering over Remus protectively. "You want to make him get along with the other traitors! Rems isn't like that! Find another victim."

"DAMN IT, ALL OF YOU!" Remus yelled, pushing James to the side, tears threatening to fall from his eyes.

Everyone turned to Remus, although James and Lily were still giving each other the evil eye.

"Lillers will help me with my Charms work, and that is all," Remus said, breathing heavily. He seemed very exhausted.

"Abandon us for her then, go on," James said, moving away from Remus.

Remus rolled his eyes. "I'm not abandoning you for her. I can have multiple friends. I want to get done my work. You guys, especially _you_ Peter," Peter opened and closed his mouth wordlessly. "Wanted to stay in the Great Hall and _eat_."

"Okay, then," Lily said, calming down. "The library?"

"Sure, I just have to go get my books."

"I'll come with you."

Remus and Lily walked off.

"That _prat_," James muttered, crossing his arms.

"I bloody carried him to the Hall, and he won't do my homework for me," Sirius added, equally flustered.

"And _Evans_! What the hell is she playing at? And Rems going _Lillers_ all the time, I mean, what?"

"Guys, stop," Peter said. The power wasn't evident in his voice, but the fact he spoke up snapped James and Sirius out of their little trance. "Remus is our friend, and we should trust him."

James and Sirius nodded, both looking rather ashamed of their actions.

"We'll apologize to him before flying class."

"And Evans?" Peter asked.

"Sure," Sirius replied, while James narrowed his eyes. "The dirty rotten cheat doesn't need any apologizing to."

Sirius glanced at James questioningly.

"Well, it's true," James huffed. "She's with the Slytherins. Rems is with us, at least. He's too kind to turn her down."

Sensing the tension growing in James' eyes, Peter decided it was time to take minor action.

"Let's go back to our dormitories and rest before we fly," Peter said, already walking towards the Gryffindor Common Room.

James and Sirius glanced at each other briefly before following.

* * *

><p>Remus sat quietly with Lily as she looked over his Charms work.<p>

"I can't find anything wrong with the theory, Rem," she said, handing the essay back to him.

"Nor can I with yours, Lillers," he said, grinning as he used Lily's nickname. It had been a long time since he used it on a regular basis.

"I wish you'd hang out with me more often," Lily said as the two started to pack up. "At least instead of Potter and Black."

Remus shrugged. "They are my roommates."

"Yeah, well, they're not good enough for you."

Remus glared. "They're nice when you get to know them. And smart too. They're just a little playful, that's all."

Lily put her hands up in the air in surrender. "I was just saying."

"It's fine," Remus said softly. "Can I walk this lady back to the Common Room?"

Lily laughed. "Not right now."

Remus furrowed his brow. "Why ever not?"

As if on cue, Severus burst into the library.

"I'm sorry I'm late…what's Lupin doing here?" He asked scornfully.

"I'll be leaving now," Remus said, sending a hurt look in Lily's direction.

"Sev, don't be mean to my friends," Lily said, although she kindly pulled out a chair for Severus to sit in.

Severus narrowed his eyes and sneered. "So he's your friend now, is he?"

Remus sighed and walked away, knowing he wasn't wanted. He could hear Lily talk as soon as she thought he was out of earshot. But he had his werewolf, monster ears that could hear from unnaturally long distances.

"Acquaintance, Sev. He's not that bad. Anyway, you're always going to be my best friend."

Remus bitterly slammed the door of the library shut and made his way back to his dormitory.

James, Sirius, and Peter were all quietly working on their homework when they heard Remus open the door quietly.

"Hey guys," he said softly.

"REMUS!" James yelled, pouncing on top of him. "I'm sorry!"

Sirius jumped on top of James. "Me too! We were downright rude!"

Peter decided to join the huddle. "I didn't mean to want more food, honest!"

Remus laughed and pushed the three boys off of him.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I shouldn't have gone off with Lillers."

"You shouldn't be apologizing," James muttered to the floor. "I should trust you. You're my friend, after all."

Remus smiled. "Not a problem, James."

An awkward silence filled the room.

"WHO'S READY TO FLY?" Sirius bellowed, seeming quite eager to break the silence.

James leapt up with excitement, while Remus and Peter exchanged wary looks. Neither were as eager to fly as James and Sirius. Remus supposed it was because the two had much more experience than they.

The four boys headed off to the pitch, although not without some complaints.

"I just wish I had my own broom," James whined.

"Yeah, I'm so much better on it," Sirius said, in an equally pouty voice.

This was getting to be a little too much for Remus.

"SHUT UP!" he yelled.

Both James and Sirius stopped complaining at once.

"Wow, it's been a while since we heard you yell, Remmy," Sirius said cheekily, while James looked about ready to murder him.

Remus narrowed his eyes and hissed, "Don't call me Remmy, you stupid berk."

Sirius merely shrugged his shoulders, a small grin playing on his face.

Before Sirius could get on Remus' nerves anymore than he already had done, Peter found it prudent to step in. He was rather timid, but he hated watching people argue in front of him.

"Guys, it doesn't matter," he said. "Let's just get to flying practice."

Surprisingly, the four First Year Gryffindor boys were among the last to arrive at the pitch.

There were four, rather musty looking brooms standing innocently in a two by two fashion. Both James and Sirius sneered at the brooms, as if they were at fault, Remus looked indifferent, while this made Peter tremble even more. James and Sirius stood across from each other, while Remus went to go stand next to Sirius, Peter went in front of him.

Lily was glaring at James, who was not acting any more mature. He probably would have hexed Lily and Severus (who was standing next to her), but he didn't want to get in trouble just before the prank, as well as making Remus more frustrated was not on his list of things to do today. That kid really needed to loosen up, James couldn't help but think.

"Good afternoon, class," the professor said, leading to Sirius muttering, "Not really. Haven't flown for ages."

Remus looked blatantly annoyed, but James chuckled.

"Welcome to your first flying lesson," the professor continued, quite oblivious to what the Gryffindor boys were doing.

"Really?" Sirius muttered, just loud enough for his friends to hear. "I thought it was our fifth."

"My name is Madam Hooch, and I will be your flying instructor."

Sirius was having trouble keeping his thoughts to himself. "No, really? I thought you were standing there practicing your English. For Merlin's sake, woman! Get on with the lesson already."

Madam Hooch continued her speech, which many of the students were listening to avidly; Lily Evans and Severus Snape seemed to be concentrating on memorizing every single word the professor had spoken. "Flying may often be seen as amusing and entertaining for most of the Wizarding World, but it is something that I feel is worth learning for the sheer productiveness. It proves to be excellent as a transportation device when you do not wish for the Ministry to track your movements."

Despite Remus' silent and furious protests, Sirius raised his hand.

"Yes, Mr Black?" Madam Hooch acknowledged, giving a small but curious nod.

"Are you making the claim here that you are expecting us to be on the run from the Ministry?" The professor opened her mouth in defense, but Sirius didn't let her speak. "Seeing as you're teaching this to a large mass of students of whom at least one will be working in the Ministry, surely now we would know to track criminals flying on broomsticks. What I'm saying is that it is quite predictable. It would be easier to run from the law, on say, a hippogriff."

Madam Hooch looked quite eager to retort that Sirius had made the same mistake she had by announcing his plans in front of a group of students, but thought the better of it.

"Thank you for that, Mr Black," James gave a small snigger, pointing out that they rhymed.

"Theoretically, they don't," Remus said, shooting a small glare at James.

James rolled his eyes and pointed to the professor. Remus immediately started blushing, much to Sirius and Peter's amusement.

"I seem to have lost my train of thought," Madam Hooch muttered, rather unnecessarily. The period pause seemed to have pointed that out to the students.

"All right, well, I want you to step up to the left side of your brooms and say _Up!_"

The students' shouts of ascent seemed to sound more like the chanting when encouraging Muggles to do one more pull up. Very few students seemed to get it. James, however, did it on the first try, much to the other students' disappointment. The Potter didn't seem surprised, simply mildly interested in the phenomenon, although he wore a smug smile on his face.

Sirius got it seconds after, and then a few other students. Lily Evans was among them, and she seemed rather pleased. When James shot her a look of triumph, though, she scowled. Peter got it after, and then a few more of the Slytherins. Eventually, there were two students left: Severus Snape and Remus Lupin. Severus looked _very_ annoyed at the fact his broom would only twitch, which Remus seemed to be quite angry.

"UP! Up, you stupid cleaning supply, UP!" Remus had started to yell. "No, you idiotic excuse for a broom! Not twitch side to side, now is the time to defy gravity! Surely you've always wanted to do that!"

In the midst of Remus trying to lecture his broom into jumping into his hand, Severus had finally succeeded in summoning his.

"Hah, Lupin, can't get the broom up," he muttered to Lily as if he had not been experiencing the same trouble moments before, which, unfourtunately, Remus could hear, and it didn't seem to bode well with his anger.

"Stop it, Sev. He hasn't done anything to you. It must be so humiliating."

"C'mon, you stick of a birds' nest! I know you can do it! Put those twigs to work!" Remus encouraged.

Peter seemed to find this rather funny. Eventually, Sirius and James snapped out of their amusement and took pity on the young boy.

"Saying up might do the trick," James muttered under his breath. "Stop wasting time trying to fill it with human thoughts."

Remus glared at James before saying "up" multiple times. Soon, the broom jumped into his hand. Madam Hooch gave an approving smile, showing that she admired his perseverance. Remus was quite displeased. He knew how to fly a broom!

"Now that you've got a hold of your broom," a few student laughed at Remus' expense. "I want you to mount it. Hold it tightly, though. We don't want you sliding off the end."

"Finally!" a rather exasperated James said. He received another burning glare from Remus.

"On my whistle," Madam Hooch continued after a few moments. "I want you to kick off from the ground, _hard_. The kick is the most important, but hardest step in flying process."

"Hurry up and whistle," Sirius said, unable to control his mouth. Remus had given up on trying to get him to shut up through his stern looks.

Madam Hooch rolled her eyes. "Fine, then. Hover for a bit, then come back down. Three, two, one!" She blew the whistle, and all the students kicked off from the ground.

A couple students tumbled, as they had kicked off the ground with more forward motion rather than straight up and down. Peter was among the unfortunate few, but he got up and tried again; his failed attempt did not seem to faze him. Other students seemed to have got rather timid at the last minute, and didn't apply enough force to fly and hover. Lily and Severus appeared to be experiencing this problem. Now, three students didn't seem to have any problem getting into the air. Their names were James, Sirius, and Remus.

James and Sirius exerted a great amount of control over their broomsticks. They hovered barely above other students' heads, much to the student's amusement. As if they had rehearsed many times before, they touched back to the ground and then started over.

This seem to spark more determination in Lily Evan's eyes, and she kicked off the ground, hovered, then touched back down. She then swore that she would never fly again unless it was absolutely necessary. She claimed to have not liked the churning feeling in her stomach.

After James and Sirius performed their routine for a while, they seemed to have noticed that one of their friends were not on the ground. They looked up and spotted Remus, flying _very _high. He kicked off with too much strength. The class watched as Madam Hooch flew up there to bring Remus down.

The two had a conversation, but the students could only hear a couple of the finishing words.

"But you said to kick off _hard_, Professor! So I tried! I kicked as hard as I could! You never said 'but not too hard'. You should specify, next time," Remus hissed bitterly.

Sirius seemed to find this very amusing, and didn't hide his feelings in the slightest. Peter was making a valiant attempt, but his face was red and he was wheezing, so it was plainly obvious what he was trying to hide. James let out a few good-natured chuckles. These three boys received a glare from a fiery redhead, who seemed greatly concerned for Remus' well being after suffering from being up so high.

Remus was in a very sour mood for the rest of the lesson. Damn his werewolf strength! But he instantly brightened up when James and Sirius reminded him about their prank after class.

The four rushed to the dormitory, well, Remus was half being dragged along by Sirius because he was apparently walking too slow.

Up in the dormitory, James and Sirius started rehearsing the incantation for the spell they would be using. Remus practiced casually dimming the lights. Peter made sure that his poker face was in check in front of the mirror.

At last, dinnertime rolled around, and these four, determined boys slapped on their innocent looks and made their way into the Great Hall.

The chatter was not unlike what it was any other day. The teachers continued to mind their own business, discussing classes as usual. None of them expected what had happened fifteen minutes into dinner. It was the first prank of the year.

Remus gave a small nod to James and Sirius, who promptly got their wands out. Remus dimmed the lights, providing a nice, calming, and ambient atmosphere, and continued to gradually make it darker; the dimming was barely noticeable. James levitated a few boys and girls and sat them across from each other. McGonagall and Dumbledore were among the few. Dumbledore seemed amused while McGonagall seemed furious. She was desperately trying to figure out who was behind this, but the dimming lights and the fact her wand was on the table was not turning out in her favour. Sirius muttered a small spell, and one by one, all the girls were dressed in frilly pink dresses, while the men were in tuxedos.

The Hall fell silent. None of them were sure what to make of the situation. Most of the people up there weren't even couples, and many were quite embarrassed. The lights continued to dim. And then the laughter erupted. Peter cracked a grin, but it wasn't able to be seen in the dark. The only parts of the Hall that were illuminated were the couples, who were floating above. Lily Evans looked mutinous and was mumbling something inaudible to Severus.

After precisely seven minutes, the tables were gently lowered. The lights were casually starting to dim again. But the costumes had not been changed. Instead, the person responsible for completing that task was a bit preoccupied elsewhere. Before the lights got bright enough to see, Sirius threw a large bag of dungbombs to the middle of the Hall, which promptly exploding, relieving an _awful_ smell.

"What the hell was that?" Remus whispered angrily. "That wasn't part of the plan! Change their clothes!"

"But dungbombs make everything better," Sirius replied in equal volume. "This was the perfect addition." He chose not to change the formal Muggle wear, much to majority of the Hall's amusement.

Remus thought it was better to save his energy focusing on the prank rather than argue with a demented First Year, who happened to be addicted to dungbombs. Instead, the previous normalcy of the students was now replaced with excitement.

The four boys felt on top of the world. Nothing could stop them! Well, except for a professor who had now stood up, one who was wearing a frilly, pink dress and had her lips set in a very tight line. In fact, the only thing that had put a damper on the mood was McGonagall's glare.

"BLACK!"

"Hey, why does he get all the credit?" James asked, pouting.

"Well," Remus said sarcastically. "It could be because he's the only student in the whole damn school who would light a bag of dungbombs in the middle of the Great Hall _while_ we're eating."

McGonagall's face went deathly pale. "Potter, Lupin, Black. My office. Now."

Perhaps it was in her anger that she didn't notice Peter's pale and trembling face. Whatever the reason was, Peter decided to be wise and not speak up.

The three boys followed McGonagall. James and Sirius were grinning and waving like they were celebrities (which they probably were by this point in time), while Remus mentally cursed at himself for getting caught. Quintin Blake gave an overly enthusiastic thumbs up, while Lily sent a disapproving look.

"Boys," McGonagall said, after a few moment of silence upon the arrival at her office.

Remus looked up guiltily, while James and Sirius seemed to be very interested in the book on the Sword of Gryffindor.

"Boys!" McGonagall reprimanded, more annoyed and furious than ever.

Both James and Sirius turned around at the same time. "Yes, Minnie?"

If it was possible, McGonagall's lips went even thinner. "You are not to call me that."

"Where can we buy this sword? It'll be fun for sword fighting," Sirius interrupted, his eyes shining with mischief.

McGonagall started breathing more heavily than she was before. "That sword is not for sale. And if it were, it wouldn't be for your use," she paused for a couple seconds, as if daring Sirius to speak. "I hope you understand the seriousness of what you have done—"

"—Serious Sirius?" Sirius said, looking rather amused. "You know, Minnie, you haven't taken off the dress yet. I think it looks quite becoming on you. Do you like it? If I like it, do you think he likes it?" Sirius never specified who the 'he' was.

Remus was busy trying to figure out how to blow up Sirius without the usage of a wand. If Sirius kept up with this, the punishment for their prank was not going to be light.

McGonagall chose to ignore the last comment, while James snickered, clearly taking it in the wrong way.

"Pranks are not to be done in the Great Hall, and certainly not one on the headmaster!"

"So," James said casually, leading to him receiving two glares. "Are you forgiving us for doing it on all the students and on yourself. I find that rather selfish."

McGonagall had no idea how to respond to that. So, Sirius spoke up.

"I wouldn't say selfish, James. She's merely devoted to her one true love."

Remus cringed as he swore he saw steam coming out of McGonagall's ears. James and Sirius too laid off on the cheek and cowered slightly.

"Five detentions for each of you, and twenty points from Gryffindor each for your cheek."

Remus didn't dare point out the fact that he had done nothing wrong other than dim the lights and help plan the prank. He most certainly didn't talk back. Instead, though, he gave a guilty "sorry" and headed off.

James decided to give Remus the piggyback ride, instead of Sirius, to the dormitory so that they didn't walk at the speed of a snail. It was rather disconcerting, though. Remus was normally very fast and always in a hurry; today he seemed to be rather slow. Maybe he was very sick because he was so weak? Shaking off the thought, he focused on getting up to the dormitory.

The three were alone; they assumed everyone else was still eating.

"Well," Sirius said after a moment's hesitation. "Aside from the fact Peter is a disloyal prat who never showed up, that was fun."

"Other than that – he's going to need a little speaking to –, it was quite fun," James agreed.

**A/N: Thoughts? I thought it was a rather fun chapter, well, aside from the small argument, but hey! They're young boys, they'll get over things quickly. And, if they are going to get as close as brothers, I would assume that they quarrel often. Sorry if my writing style kind of changed, I tried to edit the beginning part out, but I'm not sure how well I did. It's been a week and my style changes! Oh well.**

**Now, to my lovely reviewers:**

**bandeall: Thank you for your review. I'm glad you're enjoying it, although, as you can see, the whole thing isn't as canon as I originally planned, as to make sure that this is as unique as can be. Bandeall is currently in the process of writing a Marauders story, and it is very good, and all from Remus' point of view, so I say you all should check it out!**

**TheWolfPatronus: XD I'm sure you probably don't think it's so intense after seeing the resolution. Thank you for your review, I'm so glad you enjoy my story so much.**

**GabbiGrl: Thanks for the review! And yeah, the full moon is the next day. He's having awkward mood swings because I don't feel like making his angry, but I feel like he should, so now this is the product. Thanks for guessing on the cliffhanger, I enjoy hearing people's opinions. But, I guess I didn't update all that soon...sorry!**

**Sunshine72: Thank you for your review!**

**I Heart Star Trek: Thanks for the review! And, er, you're welcome for the really lame cliffhanger!**

**GryffindorBeth: Thank you so much for the review! I'm glad you find my writing so good! I wish my English teacher agreed...XD**

**zzz4730: THANK YOU! You're the best!**

**Guest: Thank you for your review! I'm glad you find it so funny! I hope this didn't fail you.**

**We didn't quite get to the goal for reviews, but as I said in the authour's note, that's totally okay. So, I got 8 reviews for this chapter, so let's aim for 9 this time. Let's see if we can get to 42 reviews.**

_**Okay, I'm putting two parts for the preview.**_

**PREVIEW:**

**"Guys, it was a mistake! He didn't know!" Remus protested helplessly.**

**"I didn't mean to!" Peter wailed.**

**PREVIEW 2:**

**He caught a small glimpse of the light shining through a crack of the shack. It was time.**


	11. A Day of Separation

**A/N: Yo! Here's the next chapter, sorry for the delay. I've been really sick (meaning to the point I've passed out), and I just went on now, and learned that we went over what the goal was for reviews _two_ days ago. Enjoy this chapter, though. It's pretty long, so I guess it makes up for the lateness.**

**Chapter 11: A Day of Seperation**

Remus rounded on the two of them. "FUN! FUN? How could you think that was FUN?"

James cowered and pretended that he had never thought Remus was weak a couple minutes before. Luckily, they were conveniently saved from the wrath of Remus, who had flopped down onto his bed in a not at all wrathful manner, by Peter.

"Hey guys!" Peter said, looking rather gleeful, probably because he hadn't dealt with a _very _angry Minnie.

Remus rolled his eyes at Peter's antics, while James and Sirius looked very angry upon his entrance. James locked the dormitory room door.

"Where were you during our meeting?" Sirius asked, his eyes flashing. This only led to Remus rolling his eyes some more due to the unneccessity of that question. They all knew where Peter had been.

Peter seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Remus.

"I was in the Hall, Sirius," Peter said, trying hard to ignore the glint in Sirius' eye.

"Why didn't you come with us to the office to face McGonagall?" James added, adding to the threatening nature of Sirius.

"Now, guys, I hardly think this is necessary," Remus said softly, seeing the fear in Peter's eyes.

"She never called on me," Peter whimpered, anything Remus said was ignored.

"Nor did she I, but I followed through," James pointed out.

"Some Gryffindor, not even loyal to your friends," Sirius said, snarling slightly.

"Guys, it was a mistake! He didn't know!" Remus protested helplessly.

"I didn't mean to!" Peter wailed.

"Leave him alone!" Remus said, trying to cut James off. Needless to say, it didn't work.

"You abandoned your friends in a time of need," Sirius said menacingly.

"Oh honestly!" Remus threw his hands in the air in exasperation. "I'd stop this, but everyone's ignoring me! Damn my stupid supposed friends and the stupid situations they get themselves into…"

Remus continued to call things stupid, when James finally saw sense.

"Oh well, Pete. The past is in the past. Next time, either we all get caught, or none of us."

Peter gave a small nod, staring down at the floor. "I didn't know, that's all…"

Sirius gave a small scowl. "Loyalty shouldn't have to be learned."

"Okay, Sirius, that's _enough_," Remus hissed, looking pretty annoyed by the whole situation.

"Sirius, that's enough," James said, as if Remus hadn't said anything.

This greatly infuriated Remus. "All right, fine. I get it. This is a conspiracy against the…youngest…in this room! Fine. Be that way. I don't care." Remus shut his eyes and hoped that the rest in the room had ignored the statement; he had almost revealed his true nature!

"Fine," Sirius said. "I'm sorry, Pete. Next time, just remember loyalty for your friends is very important."

"Okay," Peter said, looking apologetic.

The three turned around, almost in sync. James and Sirius exchanged glances while Peter went over to his bed and sat down.

"Hello, Remmy!" Sirius said in an obnoxiously loud voice.

"Hey!" James said, with equal enthusiasm. "Didn't see you there."

Remus looked bored upon this _greeting_.

"I think we even had a conversation before Peter came in."

Sirius and James rolled their eyes and jumped onto Remus' bed, and partially onto his arms and legs.

"HEY!" Remus said, sounding in quite a bit of pain.

Upon hearing the stress in Remus' voice, the two boys back-tracked immediately, showing guilt upon hurting Remus, and some uncharacteristically visible sympathy.

"You okay, Remmy?" Sirius asked, scrunching his eyebrows.

Remus had to admit, it looked rather creepy.

"I'm fine, just get off my bed," Remus mumbled. "I really have to sleep."

James and Sirius obeyed. Here lied the proof that they truly cared about Remus. Of course, this would only be until they found out his true identity. Remus mentally shook his head. He shouldn't be thinking about this this close to the full moon.

James got up and turned off the light.

"Ya know," he said, as Remus refrained from correcting James. "We need a spell for this. Then we won't have to get up before bedtime and get our pulse up, thereby making it harder to sleep."

Remus and Sirius exchanged amused glances. James' theory was totally ludicrous.

About five minutes after laying there, James found it prudent to wake all the occupants of the dormitory up with a loud 'oh!'.

"What is it, James?" Sirius asked, sitting up.

Remus mumbled something incoherent, but it could easily be predicted that he was cursing James. Peter opened his eyes and looked curiously at James.

"We're all troublemakers here, right?" he asked.

Sirius rolled his eyes as he answered, "Well, _yeah_. That wasn't as impressive as I thought."

Peter had nodded his head enthusiastically, while Remus responded with a definite 'no'.

"Rems, you know you are too," James said, ignoring Remus' protests on the contrary. "Well, what's the mark of a true troublemaker?"

Remus and Peter shrugged. Sirius looked very unamused.

"You're not a bloody professor, James. Tell us already."

"Fine, _Mr_. Black," James said while grinning, receiving a scowl from Sirius. "Anyway, a detention!"

Sirius and Peter responded in the affirmative. Remus did not like where this was going, and suddenly found this matter much more important than his sleep.

"That is _not_ true. Not all troublemakers get detention. You don't have to get caught."

"For measuring, Rems," James said, dismissing the fact with the wave of his hand. "The way you're saying it is as if those who have no detentions are the biggest troublemakers. That would mean that Evans is a big troublemaker because she'll never get any detentions?"

"Oh, just forget it," Remus said, rolling his eyes. There was no way to reason with James once he had his mind set on something.

"Exactly," James grinned at Sirius, who was laughing. "So, as a group of troublemakers, we need to have a competition to pick who the biggest troublemaker is. We'll have a detention contest. Every year there'll be an award, as well as the overall by the end of our seven years."

Remus tried to hide his disappointment. As ludicrous as the idea for a detention contest sounded, and as much as he absolutely did not want to participate in such a contest, he wouldn't be able to attend Hogwarts for all seven years. As soon as someone found out about his true nature, he'd be out the door. He was well aware that he'd be forced to join this contest – it wasn't like he got much of a say –, but the overall competition would be a mess for him. Once again, he tried to shake the negative thoughts out of his head, these would only lead to a bad full moon.

"So, who agrees? We start with all the detentions we've had so far for the year," James announced.

Sirius and Peter nodded in the affirmative, and Remus was hesitant. After a glare from James, though, Remus gave an unenthusiastic "hear, hear."

Peter suddenly spoke up, "Wait, that's not fair! I didn't know we were having this! I'm at a disadvantage."

Sirius scowled. "Well, you should have thought to be loyal to your friends earlier and this would not have happened."

That effectively shut Peter up, leaving him to wallow in his guilt.

James prepared a parchment.

**DETENTION CONTEST: 1978 GRYFFINDOR WIZARDS**

**JAMES POTTER: 5**

**SIRIUS BLACK: 5**

**REMUS LUPIN: 6**

**PETER PETTIGREW: 0**

"We need a charm to make it update as we get detentions," James said.

Sirius scanned the parchment, and suddenly looked very upset. "But, but, Remmy is in the lead! That's not fair!"

Remus laughed, all of a sudden rather proud of this accomplishment. "We all knew I'm the biggest troublemaker of us all."

James and Peter let out a few chuckles.

"Sorry, Sirius, mate," James said. "But if I were a professor, I'd be quite wary of Remus. He's quite the annoying and cheeky student."

"Too true," Remus added, much to the amusement of James, but to the annoyance of Sirius. "You just throw dungbombs. That's not the end of the world…well, actually…"

Sirius grinned and sighed dramatically. "Oh well. I'll win in the end."

"Rems, do you know a charm we could use to make this update?" James said, for the first time ignoring Sirius. Sirius crossed his arms; he wasn't taking this new role very well.

"No," Remus said after some time. "We'll have to go to the library."

He ignored the groans and moans of the James and Sirius; Peter laughed.

"We should go to sleep now," Remus demanded, after some time. He really did need sleep for tomorrow's full moon.

* * *

><p><em>He was backed up into a corner, the hairy beast only a couple yards away from him. It stood there for a couple seconds; he had no idea what to do. The wolf suddenly pounced onto the small boy, pinning him down. <em>

_"Don't," the boy whispered, as if he knew something bad was happening._

_The wolf scratched the boy along his chest, effectively ripping his shirt open, and sank his teeth into the boy's shoulder. He had never felt pain so bad, nor had he ever let out a shriek like he had that night._

_"REMUS!"_

Remus awoke to three very worried faces. He could feel the cold sweat dripping from his hair onto his shirt, which was sticking against his damp body. He was breathing heavily, as if he had just run a marathon.

James sank down onto the bed next to the terrified Remus.

"It was just a nightmare," he coaxed gently. "Only a nightmare. It didn't actually happen."

Remus let out a small sigh, shutting his eyes. Hah! He could only wish that this hadn't happened; it was there. His entire life had been shaped around that one night he had dreams about.

"Why don't you go take a shower," Peter said. "My mum says that it always works when I have nightmares; it brings you back to reality."

Remus gave a small nod. His legs were trembling in weakness. Peter took it upon himself to lead Remus to the bathroom, while James and Sirius sat on the bed silently. The time read 3:30am.

"That wasn't an ordinary nightmare," Sirius whispered, looking pale from just watching Remus scrambling around the bed in fright. "I wouldn't want to witness a dream that affected me like that."

James gave a small, wry smile. "He's been feeling weak for the past couple hours. Maybe these just come when you're sick?"

"Maybe…" Sirius trailed off.

Peter walked back over to the boys, having been listening to their conversation.

"I don't think he should go to classes tomorrow," he said.

"You're right, Pete," James said. "We have to make sure that he stays in bed."

"We have to take him to the Hospital Wing later," Sirius added. "The dorm may not be so great."

After a couple of minutes, Remus walked out of the bathroom. He was looking very pale, and his body was still shaking. His pale, green eyes portrayed terror, and he wasn't able to make eye contact with any of his roommates. He flopped down on his bed, and Sirius got up immediately. James, however, stayed on the bed.

"I'm really sorry I woke you guys up," Remus mumbled. "I'm such a damn tool, I know…Too weak to handle my own nightmares…"

James looked taken aback, and gently put his arm around Remus, who flinched slightly, but didn't protest.

"You're not weak, Rems," James said in a comforting tone. "You're really brave. That must have been a terrible dream…If you tell us what it was about, it'll go away."

Remus put his face against James, trying to hold back tears. "I can't tell you what it was about."

"Okay, then," James said, not pressing the matter anymore than he needed to. "You should go to sleep, and think about something different."

"Like daisies!" Peter exclaimed.

He got a couple of odd looks and a chuckle from Remus, who had pulled away from James.

"What?" he asked. "I was just giving an example…it's not a bad dream to dream about daisies. I think daisies are wonderful to dream about—"

"Peter," Sirius said, taking a deep breath. "Shut up."

Remus grinned at Sirius, and the two looked at Peter, who had started to blush.

"Pretend I didn't say that. I don't dream about daisies, honest," Peter all of a sudden looked very worried about being judged.

Remus laughed along with Sirius, while James shot them a disapproving look, indicating that they were being insensitive again. Eventually, James stood up and walked over to the light switch.

"Okay, well, good night, don't let the, er, what do the Muggles say?"

Remus grinned, although it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Bed bugs bite."

"Right. Good night. Don't let the bed bugs bite!"

James looked unnaturally excited over his usage of the Muggle phrase. At last, the four boys drifted off into a deep sleep, and, unbeknownst to the others, Remus had taken Peter's advice for a topic to dream about.

* * *

><p>For the first time in the morning, Remus had woken up on his own. Now, normally, the rest of the boys would have been pleased, but if Remus were still sleeping, it would be easier to leave him in the dormitory rather than persuade him.<p>

"Good morning," Sirius said in a cheery voice, finishing tying his tie. James was already ready.

"Er, where's Peter?" Remus asked tiredly, before he could stop himself.

"I'm doing _great_, thanks for asking," James said sarcastically. "Peter's in the bathroom."

"He's doing number two," Sirius added, winking at Remus.

Remus guffawed alongside Sirius, but soon Remus started coughing uncontrollably.

"Are you okay?" James asked, jumping to Remus' side within a matter of seconds.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Remus said, draping his legs over the side of the bed.

"Uh uh uh," Sirius pushed Remus back. "You are staying in bed today."

"What? No! I have classes," Remus said, trying to prove that he was fine by standing on his shaky legs.

"Mate, you're pale and clammy. You're too weak to go anywhere, otherwise we'd take you to the Hospital Wing," James said matter-of-factly. "So you're staying in bed."

Remus resigned himself to his fate. There was no way he'd be able to get up, anyway.

Peter walked out of the bathroom, all dressed in his robes.

"Oh no!" he said, widening his eyes. "Remus is up! You guys said he'd be too stubborn to stay so we had to go fast and ditch—"

"—Peter! Shut up!" James said, looking nervously at Remus.

Remus raised a brow, looking quite amused.

"You guys planned to ditch me?"

"Well," Sirius said sheepishly. "We figured you wouldn't wake up and we were going to surprise you with breakfast in bed!"

Remus burst into laughter, but James told him to stop because he predicted Remus would start coughing again. He was right.

"This isn't Mother's Day, and I most certainly, am not a mother."

Sirius looked slightly confused, while James and Peter looked amused.

"It was Sirius' idea!" James said quickly, both him and Peter pointing to Sirius.

"Mothers get breakfast in bed on a day devoted just for them?" Sirius asked, looking startled at this brand new concept.

"It's fine, Sirius. You weren't to know. You have a really mean mother."

"Right," Sirius said, placing a grin onto his face. He had promised himself that he wouldn't let his family problems make him depressed and come in the way of his friends.

With a cheery wave from Peter, the three boys left Remus in the dormitory to go and get him some breakfast.

"Well…what does Remus like?" Sirius thought out loud, as James and Peter looked just as clueless.

McGonagall eyed the boys from a mile away and made her way over.

"Boys, you will serve your detention at – where's Mr Lupin?" she asked, suddenly distracted.

"He's in bed," Peter said.

"He's not feeling well," James added.

"So we're making him breakfast in bed."

"And he's not allowed a detention for missing classes!" Sirius piped up, rather unexpectedly. "Otherwise he'll get an unfair advantage!"

McGonagall worked very hard to conceal her amusement at the boys' innocence. If she were to ignore the fact they were pranksters, they would be very adorable children indeed.

"You know, Professor," Sirius said casually. "I think I should get a detention for being cheeky to you yesterday. What do you say?"

"That's not allowed!" James exclaimed, looking panicked. "That's cheating! You can't bribe the teachers."

"Fine," Sirius relented. "Can I get a detention if I were to throw a dungbomb right now? Or miss classes?"

"I deserve seven detentions for not being loyal to my friends and confessing my part of the prank yesterday," Peter said slyly.

"HEY! No! Only one at most!" Sirius retorted.

"But, disloyalty is against House honour."

By now, they had the whole Hall's attention, and they didn't even need Remus' help. McGonagall was pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Actually, I should get a detention because I've been the quietest right now," James pointed out.

McGonagall finally spoke up. "Please don't tell me you've started a detention tally contest."

The three Gryffindors were taken aback.

"How'd you find out, Professor?" James asked.

McGonagall looked back towards the teacher table, who all looked very worried at the prospect. Well, all except Dumbledore, who had an amused twinkle in his eyes.

McGonagall took a deep, calming breath. "No one is getting a detention right now. You will serve your detentions starting Sunday evening."

"Why not tonight, Professor?" Sirius asked curiously.

"Because I would like to have some peace on my Friday night."

"Saturday?"

McGonagall gritted her teeth. "My Saturday will be used for my own business."

Sirius gave a knowing smile. "Is it your affair with the headmaster?"

"I am _not _having an affair with the headmaster!" McGonagall shouted.

"Do I get a detention for talking back and stuffing ridiculous ideas into your head?"

James and Peter refused to let Sirius have a detention without them.

"As the nicest person of us all, I would like the honour of having a detention," Peter said at the same time James said, "Instead of losing House points, which hurts the whole House, why not just punish us with an extra detention?"

"I'll be a loyal friend and do the detentions for James and Peter as well!"

"Enough!" McGonagall exclaimed. "Just mind your own business, and _no_, absolutely _no_, detentions right now!"

James and Sirius pouted, while Peter looked curious.

"Why not?"

McGonagall left with a huff, and the amused chatter of the Hall commenced once more. The boys' biggest fan, Quintin Blake, was laughing quite hard at the audacious First Years, and their ability to avoid a detention. Lily Evans did not look amused, and she stalked over to the boys.

Upon seeing Lily, James looked purely annoyed. "Get away, Evans. We're rather busy here."

Sirius looked up from the toast he had just picked up. "Oh, it's you. Well, I'm apologizing for what I said yesterday. Okay, bye."

Lily crossed her arms, her eyes were blazing with anger.

"You have to stop being such arrogant and conceited pigs! Why do you seek attention so much?"

James merely grinned, but his eyes were full of mirth. "Actually, _Evans_, I'd have to say that you're quite the attention seeker. Why else would you have a relationship with a member of the Slythersnakes and try to stand up to us?"

"Detention, Mr Potter!" McGonagall said, looking at wit's end. "You are not to bully your classmates, especially not one with their heart in the right place."

James grinned, while Sirius looked very put out. James made a huge show of a giant fist pump.

"YES!" he exclaimed. "I would like to thank my family for being so supportive of me when I brought home detentions—"

Lily gave a loud huff and stomped back over to where she had been sitting previously. McGonagall looked furious with herself.

"Minnie!" Sirius whined. "You never give me detentions. It's not fair…I want one!"

McGonagall looked straight in the eye of Sirius. "Mr Black, shut up and finish your breakfast. We don't want you to be late to History of Magic."

Sirius groaned and eyed the food on the table and began to stuff his face in the disgusting way he always did. After quickly finishing his food, James, Sirius, and Peter realized that they still didn't have anything for Remus.

"I have no idea what he'd want," Peter said.

"Yeah," James said, although slightly sarcastically. "It's not like he lives on toast."

Of course, Sirius and Peter did not catch the sarcasm in that statement.

"You're right, James!" Sirius said. "We have to get him some of everything!"

And with that, Sirius started to stuff as much food as he could onto a plate.

"Mr Black, what are you doing?" McGonagall said, looking horrified.

"We already told you, Minnie," Sirius responded, looking nonchalant about the whole situation. "We're getting food for Remmy."

"Don't call him that!" James said, feeling obligated to correct Sirius seeing as Remus was unable to.

McGonagall's face softened. "Very well."

Sirius looked shocked. "What? No detention?"

"_Leave_, Mr Black!"

Seeing the frustrated look on McGonagall's face, Sirius stuffed a chocolate muffin in the box and the three boys fled the Great Hall as fast as their legs would carry them.

They were panting like dogs by the time they entered the dormitory.

"Here…Rems…you…food…" Sirius panted.

Remus looked highly amused and grateful. He really adored his peers.

"Thank you, Mr Unfit Dog," he said.

Sirius rolled his eyes, while James and Peter looked happy, although they too were panting unattractively, and handed over the box.

Remus gaped at the box for a couple of seconds. It was a big box, about as big as his trunk.

"What's this?" he asked, looking mildly worried.

"Your breakfast," Sirius said, as if this was very obvious.

"How much did you bring?" Remus asked as he accepted the box.

"Well," Peter said. "We didn't know what you liked, so we brought you a bit of everything!"

"Yeah," Sirius nodded. "They even had a piece of steak – like who eats steak in the morning? – but we even brought that for you in case you wanted it."

Remus laughed as he opened the box. "You haven't noticed that I normally eat toast in the morning?"

"How were we—" Sirius was interrupted by James.

"That's what I said but—"

"—Shut up, Potter, you weren't being sarcastic!"

"Yes I was! You weren't paying attention!"

"Shut up!" Remus said, his head starting to hurt slightly. "I appreciate you bringing all this food for me."

"You're welcome!" Peter acknowledged, as if it was all him.

James, in the meantime, was searching for a piece of parchment that he had designed the previous night.

"We'll go to the library tomorrow, then, to search for a spell to update this," James said. "In the meantime, I'll have to do this."

Remus scrunched his eyebrow. "You already got a detention?"

"By cheating," Sirius muttered bitterly, while James grinned and pulled out the scoreboard.

**DETENTION CONTEST: 1978 GRYFFINDOR WIZARDS**

**James Potter: X** 6****

**Sirius Black: 5**

**Remus Lupin: 6**

**Peter Pettigrew: 0**

"You do realize that's going to be there forever now, right?" Remus asked, grinning.

James looked flustered, but shrugged his shoulders indifferently. Sirius looked at the parchment.

"What?! But now I'm third place!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Don't worry, mate," James said sympathetically. "You'll catch up soon."

"Besides, I'm the one who's last place!" the chubby boy of the room pointed out.

"Anyway," Remus said hastily, realizing that everyone was getting off topic really quickly. "It's 8:45, you should go now."

"Okay, Rems," James said.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Nice to know you want us here…Anyway, _eat_. You have to in order to feel better. We'll get you lunch as well."

"Wait, no, you don't have to," Remus muttered.

"Shut it," Sirius said in such a way that left no room for argument.

The three boys headed for History of Magic. Remus, in the meantime, ate a piece of toast. He was very thankful to the teacher who had thought about him and put out the piece of steak. Of course, he preferred it rare and bloody, but this wasn't bad at all. He devoured the steak, and then ate the chocolate muffin. After that, he set aside the box and sank into his dreamland.

* * *

><p>James, Sirius, and Peter were among the last to arrive at History of Magic, but it didn't really matter, seeing as their professor was a wizard who didn't care about the students in the slightest. James and Sirius both pulled out a piece of parchment, while Peter thought this would be an excellent time to catch up on the sleep he lost because of Remus' nightmare.<p>

Although it was assumed that James and Sirius were getting ready to pass notes, they were actually listening to the garbage Binns was droning on and on about, and _taking_ notes. The two wrote very quickly, trying to make a set of adequate notes Remus would be able to use when he compared the two.

After the boring class was over, the three boys stood up.

"My hand hurts…" Sirius moaned.

"Mine too…" James agreed as he stuffed the parchment into his bag.

The two received a scowl from Lily.

"At least it would be worth it if your hands were hurting from note-taking," she said hotly. "Poor Rem is ill, and I'm the only one who has a set of notes for him. And he thinks you guys actually care about him!"

"Shut up, Evans," James narrowed his eyes. "We have just taken notes on _History_ for Remus, and have been making sure he's okay by bringing him breakfast, making sure he's not weak…don't talk about things you don't understand."

Lily looked surprised over this fact, but didn't comment. Instead, she walked off.

"Girl doesn't want to say when she's wrong," James muttered under his breath. "What a Slytherin."

Sirius and Peter nodded loyally.

"She comes to conclusions way too quickly," Peter said. "I didn't know you guys were taking notes, or I would've taken some too."

"It's okay, Pete," Sirius said, which caught Peter off guard. "Remus doesn't want to read _that_ many notes. Anyway, what class do we have next?"

James was rummaging through his bag, searching for the schedule. "Er…Herbology."

And in that class too, the boys who were sitting in the back all were taking elaborate notes on the lecture about the pros and cons about certain herbs, and comparing it to basic Muggle beliefs. Sirius actually found this rather fascinating.

During Herbology, when the student were given collaborative time, Sprout wandered over to where the Gryffindor boys were sitting.

"What are you boys doing? Note passing is not allowed."

"Ma'am, if we were note-passing, we wouldn't get caught," Sirius said. "But, er, if we pretend we were, can I get a detention?"

Professor Sprout ignored Sirius. "Wait, you're note-taking?"

"Yes, Professor," James said, leaving a very speechless Sprout. "You see, Remus is ill, and he would want the notes from this class."

Sprout smiled. "Mr Lupin is very fortunate to have you as friends."

The First Year boys beamed and Sprout walked off.

After Herbology, the boys headed to lunch. They quickly wolfed down their meals, and prepared another large box with a bit of everything for Remus. Then, they headed up to the dormitory, and found a sleeping Remus.

"Hey, Remmy?" Sirius whispered, gently shaking the pale boy.

Remus opened his eyes immediately, which was weird, seeing as Remus usually never wanted to wake up.

"Huh? Oh, hey – is that lunch?" he asked eyeing the even bigger box. "Guys, I couldn't even finish breakfast!"

"Well," Peter said, and Remus felt an odd sense of déjà vu. "We had no idea on what you would want to eat, so we got you a bit of everything."

James had wandered over to the box of breakfast. "Wow, you ate more than you usually do, Rems. That's good, you'll get more strong quickly."

Sirius peered in over James' shoulder. "You ate the steak? Who eats steak in the morning?"

Remus could almost see his heart pounding out of his chest, but he tried to keep an air of nonchalance around him.

"I don't know, I suppose I was in the mood for steak when I saw it," he said simply.

This seemed to have worked, because the normally curious Sirius didn't inquire any further.

"What class do we have next?" Peter asked.

"Defense," Remus replied promptly, and then moaned. "I want to go to Defense…"

"No, Remus," James reprimanded. "You stay in bed and get better so we can enjoy the weekend. Don't forget, tomorrow we have to go to that Quidditch meet."

Remus was rather frustrated at the prospect, and then, for the first time, was very happy that the full moon fell on this night. For he would not have to attend the Quidditch practice and watch people fly on brooms. Yes, he could fly, but it didn't mean he had to like it.

"Anyway," Sirius said, snapping Remus out of his thoughts. "We have to go to class. Get some rest!"

The three boys went out of the room, leaving Remus all alone. He looked at the time, it was 2:10. His peers were late to class, and that made him laugh. And that was when it hit him that they wouldn't let him out of the dormitory to go see the nurse, and if they did, they would wait to go and see what was wrong with him. So Remus decided that he had to go to the Hospital Wing now before that moment arose and he became too late. He ignored his lunch, he was still quite full from the large breakfast he ate, and tried to stand. He held onto his bed post for support.

Remus could feel himself shaking, and feel the blood rushing to his legs and fingers. Part of Remus was begging to help him out of the pain and misery, while the other half was determined to get to the Hospital Wing and receive help and care from Madam Pomfrey. He slowly made his way out of the Common Room and into the Hall, when he fell down onto the floor. He curled up into a ball, trying to will the pain and weakness out of him.

Eventually, he stood up again, trembling all over, and felt his hands go cold, and the goosebumps start to form on his arms. He did his best to ignore them. Every couple of steps, he would lean against the wall and try to muster the courage to keep going. He had elected to leave the dormitory, it was too late to go back now. There was no way he would be able to climb back up the stairs.

After what felt like an hour of bearing an immense amount of pain, he reached the Hospital Wing. He collapsed outside the door, and leaned against the cold floor.

"Madam Pomfrey…" he called feebly. "Madam…Pomfrey…"

He forced his hand up and knocked on the door. He could hear a set of rushing footstep, and felt himself relax.

"Oh Sweet Merlin!" the school nurse bent down and gently lifted the boy who was laying on the floor. "Are you okay, Mr Lupin?"

Remus was shaking. "I'm feeling really cold…"

Madam Pomfrey lay Remus on a bed and stacked a lot of blankets upon him.

"I'd put a warming charm, but I'm not sure how you'd react…is it normally this bad?"

Remus shook his head. "Never…"

"It's okay. Just relax, all right?"

Remus squeezed his eyes tight, trying to make the pain go away.

* * *

><p>"Today, we are going to focus on wand-lighting—"<p>

James, Sirius, and Peter rushed through the door.

"Sorry we're late, Professor," James said, panting. "You see, we were getting lunch for Remus, we've been taking care of him so that he doesn't have to go to the Hospital Wing; he's very weak, you see. Hopefully, you'll see through so we don't waste class time going over why we should be on time because we have a perfectly legitimate reason for arriving late. We understand the importance of Defense class and do not wish to anger such a competent teacher who will be teaching us things that can be used in the real world. Did you know that Rems adores this course? So we'd appreciate it if you would quickly remind us what we are doing today, you see it isn't our fault we're late; we were showing our nobility and House traits. Remus would not want to miss this class and hopefully you will find some place in your warm heart to review the lesson quickly. We are aware that twenty minutes is a long time to miss, and we would like to prepare proper notes that Remus would be able to use so that he could pretend he never missed this class and fully understand the lecture."

Sirius smirked when he noticed how lost Aragon looked throughout this speech.

"Of course, Professor, if you would like to punish us for being late to class, I would rather you give a detention to me rather than take House points or give detentions to my peers," Sirius said. "Because it was my idea to give Remmy food in bed, and therefore it is my fault for why we are late. I think, though, a review is in order for the student of this class who loves this class and would love to know that he didn't miss anything due to my stupidity. So, what I'm saying is that you should feel free to punish me and only me, but you should still go over what you showed us."

"Actually, Professor," James said. "Punish me for giving you a lecture you did not need and for wasting class time, but you should still go over the lesson."

"Technically, you may think that punishing Remmy is in order, but don't," Sirius said. "He is quite ill and is suffering quite a bit, so it is all my fault. Remmy may be sick, but if it weren't for me choosing to deliver food when we could have very well got a teacher to do it, we would not have been late, and therefore, I think that I am in grave need of a detention."

Peter kept nodding his head and tried to hide the fact that he was completely baffled on what was going on. He couldn't understand how this had gotten to detentions when they were trying to convince the teacher to go over a lecture a second time.

"Please, boys, have a seat," Aragon said finally, and the Gryffindors obeyed. "I was just going over the importance of keeping your cool in nerve-wracking situations. I'll go over a simplified version of my lecture, both for your benefit as well as Mr Lupin's. A common situation for such is when in the dark, as this often leads people to not knowing what is beyond. The best to be done in this situation is to keep calm and light your wand. Of course, this is a rather tricky piece of magic, but one of the simplest defense spells we learn. The incantation would be _Lumos_. It would provide a basic amount of light for you to see. Eventually, we will start learning more complex variations of the _Lumos_ charm."

Sirius looked impressed. "Sir, you should make your lectures that short all the time!"

Aragon laughed. Lily Evans, however, turned around.

"Yes, well, you arrogant prats missed the details around the _Lumos_ charm, such as the basic history, which, because of your stupidity, Remus will have to miss. Now I'm going to have to share my notes with him. Now, if the two of you would shut up for those of us who would actually like to learn…"

James bit his tongue to prevent a rude retort when Aragon interrupted.

"Miss Evans," he looked rather abashed. "Please refrain from petty arguments in my class. That'll be five points from Gryffindor."

James and Sirius snickered. James and Sirius for mocking reasons, they never seemed to pass up an opportunity to laugh at Evans' expense.

Lily tried to look as if it didn't matter what the other students thought about her losing points, although it was quite clear that she was embarrassed and ashamed.

All the people in the class had achieved this spell by the end of the class period, which, according to Aragon, was quite the accomplishment.

The three Gryffindor boys headed back to the dormitory, playing with their wands.

"Lumos!" Peter exclaimed, watching his wand light up. "Nox!"

"Lumos!" Sirius said. "Nox!"

"Lumos!" James seemed fascinated. "Nox!"

The boys continued to repeat this in a rhythm as they marched up the stairs.

"Nox!" James said, as Peter said, "Lumos!"

Sirius opened the door gently, as to not wake up Remus.

"Hey, Remmy? We're back."

He walked over to Remus' bed, and then panicked.

"REMUS ISN'T THERE!" he shouted.

"Calm down, Sirius, he may have just gone to the Hospital Wing," James said, although there was no mistaking the fear in his tone.

"Nox!" Peter said. "We just need to go and find the Hospital Wing, and then we can go check on Remus and see if he is there."

"He is such an idiot," Sirius concluded.

"Why?" James looked taken aback.

"He could've passed out! He didn't think to look in the mirror at his wrangled appearance, now did he?"

Peter found the lunch container. "We were late to Defense for no reason. He didn't even touch the lunch."

"We have to go to the Great Hall, I have no idea where the Hospital Wing is," James said.

The three boys ran to the Hall; they seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. They were completely out of breath by the time they arrived. There was no teacher there.

"Never…mind…McGon…agall's…office…trans…" James could barely speak, but the other two understood. They all braced themselves to run again.

To say McGonagall was unamused when she saw three First Year boys in her House fall onto the floor in her private office would be an understatement.

"No, I am not giving you a detention, and no, your detention cannot be served now," she said sternly, not looking up from her papers, assuming that was what the boys had come to talk about.

The boys took a few minutes to catch their breath.

"Minnie…it's not that…Remmy's missing," Sirius said.

McGonagall looked up, ignoring the usage of her nickname. "Missing?"

"Yes," James said. "He was looking very sick, and we left him in the dormitory, and now…"

"NOW HE'S GONE!" Sirius wailed melodramatically.

Peter couldn't help but laugh, and this made it seem like they weren't serious about the matter. But McGonagall could see the solemnness in the boys' eyes, and the genuine amount of care they had for their ill friend.

"I assure you he's all right. Mr Lupin is in the Hospital Wing, but Madam Pomfrey says you can only visit tomorrow, so I will only show you where it is tomorrow. No buts, or you don't get to see it at all."

The three boys nodded and turned around.

"If you get to see Remus," James said suddenly. "Tell him he doesn't have to worry about classes. We took notes for him, even in History of Magic, and we'll explain to him the lessons. We have a good grasp on them. We'll also finish the homework so we can help him with that."

McGonagall gave them a small smile. "I shall, Mr Potter. That was very kind of you. I am proud to say you are in my House."

James beamed, while Sirius turned around.

"You know, an appropriate rewards that I would truly appreciate would be the gift of two detentions, if it isn't too much for you…"

"Mr Black, leave, before I regret saying anything kind to you," McGonagall said, although her eyes were amused.

The boys obeyed and headed back to their dormitories, to get their homework done so they could share it with Remus later.

* * *

><p>Remus looked at the clock, which read 7:30. He had been asleep for a lot longer than he thought.<p>

"Oh good, you're up," Madam Pomfrey said. "I was just coming to wake you, actually. Come on, we have to go to the Willow."

Remus got up shakily, and Pomfrey handed him a black cloak to wear that would hide his face and hair. Remus leaned against Pomfrey, wishing that she was Sirius and he would give him a piggyback ride to the pernicious tree instead so that he could get there faster and with less effort.

Madam Pomfrey grabbed a long stick and prodded a knot on the tree, causing its limbs to stop flailing. Remus was very impressed.

"No, Mr Lupin," she said firmly. "You are not to do this to showoff to your friends, or do this on your own until I deem you ready."

Remus sighed. "It's not like I was going to do it anyway."

The two headed inside the tree. Remus took a good look around the shack. There were a few pieces of furniture set around a small rug. He assumed these were probably there to distract him when he was a werewolf so that he would not attack himself. He hoped that it would work.

He flopped down on the floor.

"Oh, and Mr Lupin," Madam Pomfrey said, all of a sudden remembering something. "If you don't want your clothes to get ruined, you should remove them."

Remus nodded half-heartedly and did so. He felt cold, and could see the scars from previous full moons decorating his body. It was not something that he particularly enjoyed to see.

"Thank you, Mr Lupin—"

"—You should call me 'Remus'."

"Oh, okay, _Remus_, blimey, I've never called a student by their first name, _Remus_. Good luck with your transformation. I'll be right here in the morning."

Remus gave a small sniff. "Thank you, er, can I call you Poppy?"

Madam Pomfrey smiled. "You're a sweet boy, Remus. Of course you may. See you in the morning."

The nurse left Remus alone in the shack. He shivered as he became overcome with anxiety as to what the moon would be like. This was his first transformation without his parents close by, watching him. He was on his own.

It felt like an odd sense of responsibility, as if this task should be for someone much older than him. Although, as his father constantly reminded him, mentally he was not like an eleven year old at all. Given all that he had gone through, it had led him to mature and become more thankful for the things in life. Remus was unsure whether or not he liked that change.

He couldn't help but feel a slight guilt on the fact he had hid this from his roommates. Alongside that, he had escaped to the Hospital Wing without taking a bite of his lunch. He was lucky to have such caring roommates, he just wished that he could reveal his true nature to them without the fear of rejection. But then again, if he were them, he would be prejudiced against werewolves and monsters too. Had it not been for that day, his dad would have continued to teach him to shun werewolves.

Remus could no longer control the negative energy filling him up. He knew he shouldn't be thinking about negative things, but it was completely out of control.

He was a monster, and that was the pain they had to go through. His heart was pounding harder. The young boy was extremely anxious for the arrival of the full moon, and was bracing himself for the terrible pain that was about to emerge.

Mustering some strength, he brought his thoughts towards the happier times. He thought about the stubbornness and care of James, the laughter he had shared with Sirius, and the childish innocence of Peter. Together, the four were quite the group. He struggled to think about his life had he not been a werewolf, and pretended that he had told his friends of his true nature and they had accepted him. He thought about the pranks they would pull, and the name they would establish. They would be the brightest students to ever graduate from Hogwarts, and the students who had the best time there as well. They would be remembered as the students who had forced even the sternest of teachers to become paranoid.

Having been lost in his thoughts, he had almost forgot that he was alone in a cold shack. Yet, he felt the smallest dosage of pain jerking through his back. He looked up, the anxiousness of the full moon returning. He could feel the moon arising, based on instinct. With all the energy he could bring together, he glanced up. He caught a glimpse of the white light shining through the crack. It was time.

It was agony and pain that he had to go through every month. If he tried to explain it to a human, they would not be able to understand it. It was be rather arduous for someone to fathom the amount of pain a monster would have to go through.

He could feel his bones cracking, and when he couldn't keep it in any longer, Remus let out an agony filled scream. A scream that would make anyone tremble, and make them start to tremble and sympathize with the person who had let out such a sound. It would make any person who heard it feel the need to run and check out the scene that had caused such a sound to arise. It was the kind of sound that would haunt both young and old people in their dreams.

Remus could barely hold onto any conscious thought. He could see his muzzle growing upon his face, and could feel the set of poisonous teeth growing in with his tongue. His knees started to stick out with an immense amount of pain. It was the kind of pain that made him wish that he wasn't alive. He would give up anything to make it stop.

Remus struggled to leave his last conscious thoughts being happy. James, Sirius, Peter. James, Sirius, Peter. He started to chant this in some mantra form, as he felt his arms snap. He could see the talons start to grow, and the silver fur start to emerge all over his body. He could feel the ear start to pull out onto his head, and his eyes start to tear up.

He tried to shake out the craving for blood, but it was of no use. Remus thought of his friends one more time, before his thoughts were of no more. His screams had disappeared, and were replaced with agony filled howls. Remus was gone.

And what was left was a silver wolf, clamping its jaw and inspecting its new environment. The werewolf leapt around the room, but could smell no blood. It let out a howl against the moon, wishing for food. The wolf could find no food.

That was when it started to smell the faintest trace of blood. He tracked it down with its nose, finding it closer to himself than the wolf originally thought. It bit down on his arm and let the warm taste of blood trickle in his mouth.

The wolf was overcome with pain, but its craving for blood was greater. It continued to bite and scratch itself, trying to fill himself up with blood.

There just wasn't enough. He tried to search the room for more blood, pounding his body against the walls, trying to break through so he could find a better victim. But there would not be. He had to deal with his problems by himself. The wolf was alone, and so was Remus Lupin.

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I hope it's not _too _cliche. Like I know the nightmare is done many times, but the more he has them, the more about that night is going to be revealed. Seeing as you all have no information on what I believe happened that night. I do believe that Remus' pain was pretty realistic when he was walking to the Hospital Wing, seeing as I had that kind of experience a few days ago...I had to get it out somehow. Thank you to my ELEVEN reviewers.**

**Guest: Yeah, I couldn't help myself from adding that in! Thanks for the review!**

**TheWolfPatronus: Thanks for the review! That's exactly what I thought, all the teachers suspect Sirius because he made some reckless move. **

**marcroutledge: Thanks for the review! I too am looking forward to that scene in their second year; it's mainly the milestones that showed up in canon that is making me excited to keep writing. I'm trying to stay patient to get to those scenes!**

**zzz4730: Thanks for the review! I absolutely adored writing the scene with Remus encouraging the broom. We can all laugh at his misery like the good people we are XD I can just see him getting really frustrated with everything seeing as the full moon was approaching, but when he's not screaming, his frustration is quite entertaining.**

**SiriuslyLoopyDora: OH MY MERLIN, YOU'RE BACK! Thank you for the review! Remus' background is quite complex. I feel like his mum is welsh, but as a young child, he spent a lot of time at a daycare with other kids his age (he used to enjoy being with his peers a lot), when they moved to the neighbourhood where Lily was in (near Spinner's end), then he gets bitten and moves to Ireland. After living there for about two years, he picked up on some of the accent (as during those years, he was quite impressionable), and then moved to France for a bit (so he knows some French, and has an Irish accent, which I think is extremely adorable for my favourite character), and then he moved back to England when it was discovered that he was a werewolf there. He moves every time his lycanthropy is discovered so that he can continue to hide it from the ministry. And yeah, I got a lot of comments about the piggybacks. That is just because of the full moon and the fact he's feeling weak, so he doesn't walk as fast, and knowing Sirius and James' patience, they carried him around to make him move faster. Glad you enjoyed the story so far, and enjoy this chapter just as much!**

**GabbiGrl: Thanks for the review! I hope you enjoy this chapter too!**

**Guest: Glad you enjoyed it.**

**BlackfireForney: Indeed it was. I couldn't help myself. I was going to say a dragon, and then when I was going through it, I was like, we need some irony, and this is the perfect situation. Thanks for the review!**

**GryffindorBeth: Thanks for the review! I agree a bit about the Lily and Remus knowing each other, I just wanted to make my story unique, and that is one of the noncanon parts. I had a long debate with myself about whether or not I put that scene in or not. I'm going to have that play a bigger part as the Marauders advance through Hogwarts. XD my teacher seems to think that my creative writing is way to nonreal...it's not my fault I like to write about supernatural things! If we needed something real, we could look outside or read a journal! She didn't seem to agree with me...nonimaginative teachers :)**

**Yukie: Thanks for the review! I'm glad you're enjoying my story, that makes me really happy! I'm so happy you're finding it amusing, they're the Marauders after all! Remus is by far my favourite character to write. Also, thanks for the review on my James' Birthday story!**

**Janazza: Thank you for the review! XD, yes, it's quite suspenseful, isn't it? I hope this answers some of the questions.**

**Thank you for the reviews, we are up to 44! Let's see if we can get to 57, now shall we? (that's 13, for those of you too lazy to add right now XD)**

**PREVIEW:**

**"He's in critical condition," Madam Pomfrey said, attempting to lie indifferently, although she looked quite nervous as she shut the door.**

**"You shouldn't have said that," Remus said softly. "They're going to blow up the door now to come and see me."**

**Sure enough, when Madam Pomfrey rushed out to check out what the boys were doing, she found eight dungbombs lined up next to the door, and three First Year boys with their wands raised.**


	12. The Quidditch Team

**A/N: As part of the weekly update, I give you the next chapter of Marauders Together Forever, full of lighthearted fluffiness! So enjoy, peoples!**

**Oh yes, and I am going to dedicate this chapter to a certain PheonixTears1001 (no, I didn't spell that wrong) for keeping me up late at night, thus the reason I have trouble finishing my homework, as well as this bloody chapter. Oh and for dedicating her chapter to me...But not for her supposed undying love for Remus Lupin, as he is MINE!**

**And a special shoutout to GryffindorBeth for the 50th review!**

**Chapter 12: The Quidditch Team**

"I don't get it…" Peter whined for the one millionth time.

James sighed and looked over his work. Him and Sirius had been taking turns helping Peter and his eight billion questions.

"Come on, Pete, it shouldn't be so tricky," James said. "Muggles seem to think ginger roots helps cure water retention, when it really doesn't unless used in a specific potion."

"But why? Why didn't they just think of putting it in a potion?" Peter asked.

James sighed very audibly, and Sirius chuckled.

"Because, Peter," James said, trying hard to keep his cool. "They don't have magic, so they don't have the capability to do so."

"I knew that," Peter said. "What I mean is how in the name of Merlin did they come across this theory if they don't have the capability to make potions."

"Peter…" James was starting to lose his patience. "Because Muggles have science and ever expanding technology, which allowed them to investigate and explore deeper into the properties of the ginger root. They assume that it works on its own, but it needs the rest of the potion to wake up the property of the root."

"But if they were so smart to figure out that the property existed, couldn't they be a bit smarter and realize that the root is not active when consumed on its own?"

"Bloody hell, Peter! The fact Muggles figured it out is smart enough as it is!"

"But I thought that they were dumb…"

James threw down the textbook in frustration. Sirius continued to laugh.

"Seriously, Peter – heh, Seriously Sirius, heh – most Muggles are probably smarter than you."

Peter pouted and crossed his arms. "I wish Remus were here. He'd be a lot nicer about it."

Sirius made a dramatic showing of rolling his eyes, and James chuckled, although he tried not to. Peter looked very hurt.

"Hey, I'm sorry Pete," James said, feeling slightly bad of the fun Sirius and he were having at Peter's expense. "It's just, you know the answer, just write it down. Use common sense, that's all."

Peter sighed, looking quite glum over the whole situation. "Right…"

Sirius had opened up a Charms textbook which he had nicked from the library previously, and was practicing a few of them. It didn't take him long to master quite a lot, so he put down the book and searched for more of a challenge. It was then his eyes were drawn to the Defense Against The Dark Arts textbook. Remus had learned so much from it, why couldn't he? So he flipped through the book, reading the theory. He read so much that he thought his eyes were bleeding. So he put down the book and looked at the clock. It had been twenty minutes. It sure felt a lot longer than that.

James was running a hand through his hair in frustration. "Look, here's my homework, just copy it down!"

He threw down the piece of paper and walked over to Sirius.

Peter mumbled a small "thanks", feeling very ashamed of himself. Why could he just not be as smart or as logical as his friends?

"Whatcha doin'?" James asked, flopping down onto the bed. He let out a melodramatic gasp. "_Reading_?"

Sirius went red. "It sounds weird when you say it like that."

James blinked a few times before laughing. "_Weird_? But that is what it's called when you look at words upon a dry page. Oh well, I s'pose it's forgivable depending on the content of your book."

Sirius put the book under his cover as quickly as possible. Unfourtunately, he forgot that James could reach in through the other side and grab the book, and that was what occurred.

"A Defense _textbook_?" James asked incredulously. "Blimey! We already have one Remus around here. We don't need a second one!"

Sirius exhaled noisily. "I was bored," he said, as if this was an appropriate explanation.

This made James laugh. "_Bored_?"

"Stop sounding so shocked!" Sirius was getting fed up with all this mocking.

"Sirius," James paused, thinking about how to phrase his point. "You read _a book_. A book. What happened to the dry pages were going to eat you up?"

"That was just to annoy our lil Remmy," Sirius said matter-of-factly. "Besides, I wanted to learn some spells. Remus is so good at them, and I want to be able to do actual magic too. At the end of the day, I _am _at Hogwarts."

James took this in for a couple of seconds. "I suppose…can I join you?"

"DONE!" Peter exclaimed, throwing his quill in the air in delight, leaving James and Sirius very wide-eyed; Sirius was a little upset that he was cut off.

"Er…good for you, Pete," James said, giving a thumbs up to Peter.

Peter grinned. "Thanks for your homework. It helped a lot."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "_A lot_? You wouldn't have been able to do any of it if it weren't for James giving you his homework to _copy_."

"Sirius, shut up," James said, going up to Peter. "Here, we're going to study some magic…don't tell Rems we're gonna use some of his books though…"

"I don't think I'd be able to," Peter said, looking down at his feet. Sirius snorted.

James glared at Sirius. "Don't be daft. I'll help you."

Sirius sighed and opened some of the books. Remus had a decent collection of defense books.

"Cool, look at this one!" Sirius said suddenly, directing all the attention at him.

James looked so excited for this outburst, it seemed that his eyes were going to pop out of his face. He didn't seem to be enjoying the reading as much; none of the spells were that interesting.

"What is it?"

"It must be cool," Peter said, looking wistfully at Sirius.

"It is! It's a spell that blows stuff up! It's called _Confringo_."

"We could blow up doors and walls!" James exclaimed.

Sirius had other ideas. "What if we combine it with dungbombs?"

Peter began to laugh as if it was the funniest thing he had ever heard. Sirius looked very smug indeed.

"Well, do you wanna try?" James asked.

Sirius looked very enthusiastic. "With the dungbomb?"

James grinned, seeming quite happy for his best friend. "Yeah."

Sirius practically leapt off the bed and ran to his robe and pulled out a small dungbomb.

Peter looked confused. "Why so small?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. He was getting quite sick of Peter. He got so much attention and care from James, and when Remus wasn't there, he felt it all the more. He wasn't even that smart.

"In case the explosion turns out big, we don't want the whole school here and our room to be blown up," Sirius said exasperatedly.

James put his arm protectively around Peter. "Don't mind Sirius. He's being rude because he's missing his boyfriend."

Peter laughed, but Sirius was not amused.

"Shut it, Potter," he said. "I do not have any romantic affinity towards Remus."

"Yeah, yeah," James said dismissively, his hazel eyes sparkling.

Sirius shook his head amusedly, and then pointed his wand at the dungbomb.

"CONFRINGO!" he said, flicking his wand.

The bomb didn't explode…or do much of anything. Sirius, however, was pushed back as if he had been in an air explosion. James seemed to find this very amusing.

"I'll do it," he said. "CONFRINGO!"

James decided the spell was a lie when water spurted from his wand, only after it fell out of his hands, in his face.

"Your turn, Pete!" he said, laughing.

Peter tremored. "I'm not very good at this, though."

Sirius rolled his eyes, and James gave a small grin. "You'll do fine. Look at us!"

With a newfound confidence, Peter walked up to the dungbomb.

"CONFRINGO!"

Peter could visualize the bomb exploding to millions of pieces, with the strength to push down many doors. It was just what the situation had called for, the underdog succeeds.

Unfourtunately, this was real life, and the bomb did not explode. The bomb did nothing. In fact, the wand did nothing at all.

Sirius let out a groan of frustration. "Come on, let's try again. We must master this spell."

* * *

><p>A werewolf howled quite loud to the moon one last time before that transformed into a scream of agony. Remus could feel his mind returning, and his bones shrinking as if they were being forced into a small, enclosed space.<p>

He screamed as loud as he could, feeling as if that would ease the pain he was in. Eventually, the painful transformation of the month was over, but the after effects were just kicking in.

He could feel himself starting to shiver again, and he curled up into a ball whimpering.

"Mr, er, Remus? How are you?" Madam Pomfrey said as she entered the tunnel a few minutes later.

Remus tried to say something, but all he could emit was a small moan.

"Oh you poor thing," Madam Pomfrey lamented as she started to perform some cleaning spells over Remus' wounds.

Remus wanted to protest against the pity the nurse was showing him, but found that he had no energy to do so. Instead, he let Pomfrey carry him in her arms towards the school, with the aid of a large cloak that was disillusioned.

"You poor baby," Pomfrey continued to murmur, making Remus very annoyed. But there wasn't anything he could do about it.

By the time Madam Pomfrey put Remus down into the bed, Remus felt more exhausted than ever, but he couldn't sleep.

"I ought to give you a potion to help you fall asleep, Remus."

Remus gave a small nod.

While Madam Pomfrey was in the middle of getting out the dreamless sleep potion when she heard a knock at the door.

Remus flinched, looking quite worried. Anyone who entered would see him in his horrible physical state, and what if they made the correlation between that and him being a werewolf? That would be terrible.

"Who is it at this hour?" Madam Pomfrey wondered out loud. "Don't worry, Remus, I won't let them in without a blindfold."

Remus let out a small laugh. "Thanks, Poppy."

Remus could hear the sounds of the voices of the people who were out the door. These were the sounds of three boys who just wouldn't leave him alone.

"We want to see Remus," James said, stomping his foot against the floor as if this proved his point.

Remus could not see what Sirius and Peter were doing during this time, but he imagined they'd be nodding to back James up.

He could see Madam Pomfrey grow very uncomfortable, as her posture changed.

"He's in critical condition," she said, attempting to lie indifferently, although she looked very nervous indeed when she shut the door.

Remus knew he was not in critical condition; he had quite a few transformations worse than this.

"You shouldn't have said that," he said softly. "Now they're going to try to blow up the door."

Of course, the keyword in that statement was 'try', he knew his roommates didn't know enough magic to blow anything up.

Madam Pomfrey, however, looked very worried.

Sure enough, when she rushed back out to check what the boys were doing, she found eight dungbombs lined up against the door, and three First Years with their wands raised high.

Remus wanted to laugh, however annoyed he was.

"What are you boys doing?" she asked hysterically.

James and Sirius exchanged a look, but Peter replied, "Blowing up eight dungbombs so that the door explodes."

Sirius laughed at the nurse's incredulous expression. "It's true…can we see Remus so that he feels better? If he's in critical condition…"

Pomfrey let out a small chuckle. "I was trying to get you guys to go away. He's not having anything life threatening. He'll be fine by tomorrow. He just needs rest."

"So he can have that in the dormitory," James said matter-of-factly. "We want Rems back."

"He doesn't want to see anyone right now," Madam Pomfrey tried another tactic.

Sirius let out a disbelieving laugh. "Tell us it's us. Tell him we'll ground him if he doesn't come out."

"But he's already grounded," Peter pointed out.

"Darn."

"Do you _have_ to see him now?" Madam Pomfrey asked, praying that the boys would just disappear.

"Minnie promised that she'd let us see him today," Sirius said.

"Minnie?"

"McGonagall," James said dismissively.

"Besides, we spent the whole night learning spells," Sirius said, his eyes wide, and looking uncharacteristically genuinely innocent. "We want to make Remus proud!"

Madam Pomfrey actually burst into laughter. "You can see him later today."

She ignored the pouting faces of the 'innocent' young boys.

Remus was smiling, and his eyes were sparkling.

You heard that, then?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

Remus nodded. "Let them in."

Remus decided that his…friends…genuinely wanted to see him, and he was going to let them.

"Are you serious?" the nurse asked. "Surely you want to sleep, and…"

"Sirius is outside the door," Remus replied, smiling. "I'll sleep later, they make me happy, my friends do."

Madam Pomfrey obeyed, and opened the door. She was not surprised to see that the boys were still standing outside, their arms crossed defiantly over their chests.

"Yeah, we're still here," Sirius said. "And we're not leaving until we see lil Remmy."

The school nurse laughed. "He has requested to see you."

"Did you have to threaten him?" Sirius asked, while James and Peter cheered.

"No, I did not."

"YES!" Sirius exclaimed, pushing the nurse out of the way so that the three could go see Remus.

"REMMY!"

"REMS!"

"REMUS!"

Remus laughed. "Hey guys."

James paused as he took in Remus' appearance. "Blimey, you don't look too good."

Remus smiled. "Yeah, I've been better."

"Oh, forget about this!" Sirius said, pushing James aside. "We learned some spells for you!"

"So I've heard."

"And there's this one spell that _explodes_ things!"

Remus furrowed his brow. "You went to the library?"

"No, we went through your things," Sirius said with the wave of his hand.

Remus choked. "You…what?"

"Just your books," Sirius rectified. "And then _I _found this book on defense spells, and there was one which _explodes _things."

Remus couldn't recall ever reading such a spell, and he read through a lot.

James noticed Remus' baffled expression so pushed Sirius out of the way to talk to him.

"It's called _Confringo_," James said.

Sirius pushed James away. "It is great for exploding dungbombs."

"Move over, Sirius, I wanna—"

"Want to."

"—Talk to Rems!" James said, pushing Sirius away.

"I called him first," Sirius pushed James.

This soon evolved into two eleven year olds trying to tackle each other, and neither of them were talking to Remus.

"Er, hey Remus," Peter said, sitting down on the bed next to him. "How are you feeling?"

Remus gave a warm smile. "I've been needing some amusement in here."

"HEY PETE! I'm talking to Remus!" James shouted, and Peter joined the tackle.

Remus was very amused with all this, although he was starting to get a headache. His room – friends, often ignored his presence, and now they were fighting over him. It felt good to be wanted. If he could keep up the façade, he would never have to lose this.

This 'argument' didn't last very long, though. Madam Pomfrey was not pleased that the boys weren't talking to Remus, and were instead making a lot of noise. Her patients did not need a raucous environment, which these Gryffindors were creating.

"OUT! OUT!"

James, Sirius, and Peter looked up sheepishly at Madam Pomfrey.

"But, ma'am," Sirius said, leading Remus to groan slightly, but James to look excited. "You're making a lot of noise as well. With your shouts…think about poor lil Remmy."

The nurse didn't seem to find Sirius amusing in the slightest, and literally pushed them out.

"Merlin, what's stuck up her arse?" Sirius asked rhetorically.

"A stick," James said, not realizing that the question was rhetorical.

"Guys," Peter spoke up. "Do you remember what we have to do today?"

James snorted. "Not like we could play Quidditch or anything."

Sirius' face, however, dawned with recognition.

"The Quidditch practice!"

The three boys exchanged anxious looks. How had they forgot?

"This is dumb, though," James pointed out as they started towards the pitch.

"Why?" Peter asked confusedly.

"Rems was the reason we got invited…"

"Yeah, well," Sirius' eyes started to shine. "Your role model, Quintin, 'll be there."

"He's not my role model, what gave you that idea?" James asked, looking vexed. It was quite clear he didn't take teasing all too well.

"I dunno…" Sirius trailed off, before mimicking James' voice in a high pitched tone. "_He's Quidditch CAPTAIN, he must be doing something right…oh, he talks fast, I should too…"_

"Shut it, arse face," James said, punching Sirius lightly in the arm.

"I don't think you sound like that," Peter said faithfully. James was such a good friend to him; he _had_ to stand up for his friend.

James grinned and put his arm around Peter.

"Thanks, Pete," he said. "At least _some_ people are nice and honest around here."

"Are you blind, Peter?" Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow. "Because we all know James sounds just like that, listen."

Feeling the need to defend Peter against his best friend, James said, "Peter's not blind…but he may be deaf."

Sirius burst into laughter, and Peter scowled at James.

"Thanks a million, mate," he said sardonically.

"Oh, come on, Pete, I'm only joking," James said. "Teasing is completely and totally allowed, is it not?"

"Anyway, Sirius, James' voice does not sound as high pitched as your imitation. I paid attention to it," Peter said.

Sirius chortled. "I know, Pete, but it's fun to pretend."

"Who's the other girl who's gonna be there…the keeper…?" James asked.

"Why, d'you like her?" Sirius retorted, grinning madly, there were some similarities between his smile and a Cheshire cat.

James rolled his eyes. "I _admire _her. There's a difference. Any girl who plays Quidditch is cool."

Sirius made a face of mock surprise. "And Lily Evans doesn't fall under the definition of 'cool'?"

All three of the boys laughed at Lily's expense as they arrived at the Quidditch Pitch.

Seven players were flying around, trying to avoid the bludgers the two team Beaters were hitting. They could see Quintin racing by the bludgers, trying to whip one at Kaitlin, as the other beater was not attempting to do so.

The chasers were playing catch with the Quaffle whilst trying hard to avoid the Bludgers.

"How I wish I could be up there…" James moaned, looking longingly at the broomsticks in the air.

Sirius nodded at James' statement, while Peter looked awestruck. He had never seen such flying before, and it was spectacular. He would pay to watch them play a Quidditch game…although he didn't really need to.

The beater who wasn't Quintin launched a bludger towards an unsuspecting Chaser, who was focusing on catching the Quaffle.

"WATCH IT!" James called, and the Chaser glanced behind her, assuming it was Quintin who had warned her.

She caught sight of the Bludger and swerved down, ducking under the black ball, and then sped upward to catch the Quaffle. It all happened so fast that Peter was rubbing his eyes to make sure something had happened.

"That was _brilliant_!" Sirius exclaimed.

Quintin looked down and saw the three First Years and told everyone who was flying to come down.

"Hey," Quintin waved as he dismounted his broom along with the rest of the team, but he didn't really give the First Years a millisecond to answer. "How ya doing?" he then turned to the Gryffindor team, who were looking excitedly at the three boys…well, except one, who was one of the boys that ended up pranked. "These are the First Year pranking prodigies…well, not, er," he paused, not wanting to refer to Peter as the 'fat one', so struggled to remember his name.

James and Sirius caught eyes and tried not to laugh. They knew exactly what Quintin had wanted to say.

"That's Peter Pettigrew," Sirius reminded.

"Right," Quintin covered up quickly, but this time James interrupted him before the Quidditch captain could start to rant again.

"Peter helped with the prank yesterday," he said.

The face of the player, who had got pranked the other day, which had softened upon hearing Quintin mention Peter, grew cold once more.

"Why are we meeting the pranksters?" he asked, looking quite sour.

Quintin gave a small chuckle. "Heh, yeah, you, er, pranked him the other day…"

"We figured," James said, stretching out his hand. "I apologize."

Sirius knocked James' hand away. "As I was the leader of the prank, you have my sincerest apologies."

"Excuse me, I believe _I_ was the leader of the prank."

"_I_ was, and _I_ apologized for the inconvenience!"

Peter ignored the two distracted boys and stepped forward, thrusting his hand forward.

"I didn't lead the prank, but I'm sorry that you were one of the random people selected to be involved in the prank."

The boy cracked a grin. "No problem. I'm Trevor Winters. Are they always like this?"

Peter snorted, indicating that this was quite normal behaviour for James and Sirius.

"But only when they're alone. Otherwise it's Remus who gets involved in the arguments."

"The prankster," Quintin replied to the inquiring look he was receiving. No one had any 'aha!' moment.

This got James and Sirius to stop bickering immediately.

"You can't possibly still be calling him 'The Prankster'," Sirius said, crossing his arms jealously. "All of us here are pranksters, just because he got the first prank…"

Quintin smiled broadly. "But you see, the most accurate assessment of the best prankster comes from the first detention, especially when it comes from annoying teachers. It doesn't necessarily mean it's a prank, but the fact he had audacity to such a thing becomes deserving of the title 'The Prankster'. Although…the three of you did have the first prank…" he trailed off, before widening his eyes. "Wait, where is the prankster anyway?"

"Good to know you noticed your favourite Gryffindor," Sirius muttered under his breath before raising his voice. "He's in the hospital wing."

Quintin's face immediately transfigured into one of sympathy. "Oh Merlin, is he okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine, a little weak looking…he was sick yesterday," James said, clearly sucking up to Quintin.

"What happened?"

"Just sick," Sirius interrupted James, receiving a scowl from said boy.

"Aw…he's gonna miss the practice."

"Don't let him hear you say that," James said, grinning. "First he'd correct your grammar, and then he would shout at you."

"Oh, shut it, Blake," the other Beater said. "You woke us up early for practice, and now we're chit chatting. Come on, let's fly and try to injure people again!"

"Sadist," Quintin said mockingly. "Anyway, I want to introduce the pranksters – see, I listened…wow, I just took an order from a First Year –" The three boys beamed. "as they seem to love Quidditch. But not the sick boy, Remus. He doesn't like Quidditch and was the reason behind the arranging of this meeting in the first place, but I see these boys – well, not Peter so much, sorry –" Peter gave a small smile meaning he was totally cool with this arrangement; he'd rather keep his feet on the ground anyway. "as future prospects for the team next year. They're already bloody prodigies when it comes to pranks so I'm assuming—"

"—_Cut to the chase_," The boy hissed, and suddenly another burst into laughter.

"Chase Chase, haha," he laughed, leaving the three First Years quite confused.

Quintin rolled his eyes. "Shut up, you lot. Stop making stupid puns and talking for no reason. I never do that, can't you learn from the captain?"

James, Sirius, and Peter snorted.

"What?" Quintin asked, annoyed. "You First Years are _so _annoying. I've never met people as frustrating as you lot, even if you are prodigies. I'm willing to put that fact aside to get you guys to shut up and—"

"Mr Blake, sir," Sirius said, widening his eyes to make them look innocent, much to the amusement of James. It looked very fake. "You're talking nonsense again."

Quintin blushed as the team began to laugh.

"That kid is my new hero," one of the Chasers said, grinning.

"Fine," Quintin said. "I'm gonna introduce you now. Like right now. And I won't talk gibberish as you damn fools are saying. And no, I am not corrupting little children by swearing, okay?"

"Quintin, we're bloody troublemakers," Sirius said. "Don't call us 'little'. Unless it's Remmy. Then you have my full permission."

"_Anyway_," Quintin said, as if Sirius was the one who had made them off topic. "My team."

He began to point at each of the players as he said their name.

"The Keeper is the only girl on our team, and that's Kaitlin Brown. She's in Third Year. Pretty awesome for a girl, if you ask me, but she never really liked me. Said I talked too much. I told her that wasn't true, and then she rejected me, going out with my fellow Beater. I guess I'm supposed to hate him for it, but then again, I guess their happy together. Actually, I think a little too happy. They snog all the time, doing their little tongue waggling 24/7. I guess she's too young for me, that's how I got over it. Besides, now I have my own girlfriend, but she's in Hufflepuff. Not that it matters, of course, but she's lovely. She plays Seeker for the tea—"

"Quintin, either introduce us or let us play," Kaitlin said, getting really frustrated with the captain of the team.

"Sorry," he mumbled, pointing to the next person. "That is Chase Phillips, in Seventh Year, and he plays Chaser. He makes a lot of 'Chase' puns, and I assure you that they are very annoying. I hate name puns, you know. The thing I like about you, Sirius, is the fact you never make Sirius puns, which would annoy me to no end—"

Peter snorted unattractively. "If only you knew…" Then he used his robe sleeve to wipe the snot that had appeared on his face.

"Scratch that, I don't like that about you," Quintin said, wrinkling his nose at the bogeys that Peter had wiped away. "You know who else annoys me? Peeves. He is _so _annoying, he dropped this giant, blue—"

"Yes, yes," one of the boys said. "He dropped ink on you. Next please."

Quintin gave a couple nervous chuckles as he pointed to his burly, fellow Beater, who had just spoken. "That's my partner in the art of beating, Lee Lee. And no, you're not allowed to make fun of his name. Then he gets mad. And when I say mad, I mean mad mad. I made the mistake of doing that once and I thought I was going to die, seeing as he started coming after me with grapefruit which I'm deathly allergic to. And after that," Quintin had a sharp intake of breath, signifying what came next was too terrible to announce. "I stayed in my dormitory because I was frightened, of course, I mean look at his size! And he's a Seventh Year, I've the right to be mad. Speaking of which, I wouldn't want to get on your bad side, otherwise I might become a victim of your future prank, like good ol' Winters here," he motioned to Trevor. "Trevor is our Seeker, and one of the best in the nation. Never met anyone like our young Winters. He can catch the Snitch from anywhere! The lucky thing with a guy like Trevor around is that I'm never gonna need to find a new Seeker when he graduates. It going to be hard replacing Lee and Chase, the team wouldn't be the same without them…although, I will be here, so it shouldn't get _too _bad—"

"Hey, hey, Quintin," Sirius said, putting his arm on the talkative captain's shoulder. "Let's play a little game, shall we? If you don't digress whilst introducing the team, I'll give you a prize."

Quintin's eyes lit up. "What's the prize?"

"A grant to never be the victim of our prank over the course of the year," Sirius replied.

This infuriated James greatly. "_I'd _give you fifteen galleons if you shake with me. The deal'll be the same."

Peter rolled his eyes at James and Sirius. Both of them were being very frustrating. He wasn't allowed to watch people fly, and that was what he really wanted to do. He hoped staying quiet would make it all go away, but that didn't seem to be happening. Nonetheless, he prayed Sirius' tactic would work better, as long as this running feud between who got closer to Quintin didn't play too big of a role. Although, knowing those two, there could be a million more digressions and nothing would ever get done. So he walked over to the stands and took a seat, getting ready to watch the show.

"Sorry, Potter, but I think I like Sirius' one more," Quintin said.

James scowled while Sirius looked triumphant.

"Yo, Lee," James called, crossing his arms defiantly. "Next time _Blake_ digresses, hit him with a Quaffle."

Lee laughed and pulled out the Quaffle.

"Hey, woah, _no_," Quintin attempted to command. In the meantime, James and Sirius exchanged amused looks, Sirius' telling James that this was a great idea.

"Quintin, mate, you're the one with the power in this situation. Cut to the chase—" Sirius was interrupted.

"Haha, Chase Chase, haha," Chase sniggered.

James groaned. "If Sirius is anything like that…seven years of that nonsense…may Merlin help us all," he said under his breath.

"—And you won't have to worry about a concussion."

Quintin looked wary but nodded his head.

"Okay, and the last two players are Chasers. Fergis Anderson here's in Second Year, and Rufus Scrimegeour is in Sixth. They're both brilliant. So you see, I am capable of talking without digress – OW! What the hell was that for, LEE?"

Lee gave a cheeky grin. "You talking about digression counts as digressing. I'm sure James and Sirius would agree."

The two boys in question immediately began nodding their heads in unison, looking very humoured by the situation.

"Oh, shut it. They're bloody pranksters. Anyway, back to work, you lot! Stop hanging around down here and wasting time! Otherwise I'll make our afternoon practice in the morning tomorrow!"

Quintin kicked hard off the ground and started to fly, along with much of the team.

"Oh yes, _we've_ been wasting time," Lee muttered sarcastically under his breath as he mounted his broom.

Chase glanced down at his watch. "Damn, there's still three bloody hours until lunch."

James and Sirius laughed and watched the team fly and start to work with the Chasers. They joined Peter on the park bench, wishing that one day they could fly alongside them.

Sirius hoped that Remus would be able to fly with them, laughing joyously by their side. Perhaps they would crash the Quidditch practice that would take place on Sunday, and make his vision a reality.

**A/N: I hope you liked this chapter. I don't think it's my best, but I can't tell what's wrong with it...I feel like it's missing something...if you find what it's missing, I'll use it to improve, and probably edit this chapter. XD, Quintin is one of my favourite characters in this jumble, so sorry if you think he was dragged on for too long...I didn't want to let him go, and it would go against his character to speed up ;)**

**Okay, and now to respond to my six reviewers:**

**TigeressLilly: Thanks for your review! And thank you for the compliments to me as a writer, it's really nice to hear it from someone. I'm glad you enjoyed the preview, that scene randomly popped in my head in the middle of history class XD**

**I Heart Star Trek: Thanks for your review (every one word counts XD. It's a review anyway!) I hope you liked this chapter too.**

**PheonixTears1001: Thanks for both your reviews! And here is the long awaited chappie XD I'm glad you find it amusing, I need to fill the quota before the last couple chapters of this story ;) I guess I'll keep when the Marauders discover Remus is a werewolf to myself XD As for chapters, I have no idea. But at least 75k words per year (although I'm striving for 100k). And I will do my best to not have you wait a few months for a chapter, I hate it when that happens, plus you lose the flow then, and I don't want to hate myself for that. Especially not with the amount of people who read this story...too many people to let down. And yes Remus has werewolf powers, but two humans are stronger than an eleven year old werewolf. Plus, he doesn't want to hurt them, nor does he want to make his strength obvious. Remus didn't try to run fast, but he's faster than normal, but not superhumanly fast. Maybe I should have made that clearer... Glad you enjoyed those chapters and this story. And you should read Pheonix's stories, she has this one about Albus Potter, and it's brilliant.**

**Guest: Thanks for your review! Yes, Peter is very amusing, however traitorous. I'm glad you think I kept him in character.**

**GryffindorBeth: Thanks for the 50th (yes, I can hardly believe it) review! You're amazing! I'm glad you enjoyed the pain scenes (or think they were well written, you shouldn't ****_enjoy_**** them XD), when I wrote the chapter, I was trying to get what I felt out of my system, and out came pain in writing that I was very proud of. You should also check out Beth's stories, she has one where Lily meets Hagrid (but is pretty much a Jily story), and it is so sweet, and another Jily and Harry/Ginny story where it shows them raising their kids, which I thought was really creative, and my personal favourite, where the Marauders listen to Beatles music.**

**Anyway, let's try to get to 62 reviews, shall we?**

**PREVIEW:**

**"Are you saying I'm delusional?" James asked.**

**"Yes, that's ****_exactly_**** what I'm saying!" Remus exclaimed.**

**James suddenly felt very confused and worried. "Am I really? Wait, what? Are you for real?"**


	13. The Accident

**A/N: Hello. Long time no see. I know. You all should be very mad at me. One, because I got to the number of reviews and still didn't update, and two, because I didn't even update on Saturday, when I was supposed to. I've been sick...again. And I was not pleased. And I couldn't really get out of bed, let alone write. But I'm back now, and hope none of you are so mad that you abandon the story...It was going to be longer, but then I have to go away for a bit, and I had to get something out to you guys, so I posted what I had. It's not too short, it's like 4k words.**

**Special Shoutout to GryffindorBeth, who is an awesome writer, and has awesome stories you all should read. **

**Chapter 13: The Accident**

James, Sirius, and Peter woke up bright and early on Sunday morning. The weird part about sleeping without Remus inside the dormitory was the fact that after they woke up, there was no hour long affair of having to wake up their little sandy haired friend. Although, it was much less entertaining. There were no messed up arguments just before bedtime; they just went to sleep. Of course, there was a very easy fix to this problem. As soon as the three boys got their robes on and looked presentable, Sirius jumped on Remus' bed.

"WE HAVE TO GO SEE REMMY AND STEAL HIM FROM THE HOSPITAL WING!"

Peter blinked a few times, while James laughed and joined Sirius on Remus' bed.

"Guys, we might actually end up breaking the bed if we keep jumping…" Peter said timidly.

"Oh, who cares Peter?" James asked, still jumping.

"No, really…"

"Well, let's go, and explode a dungbomb while we're there in the mid—OI!" Sirius fell on top of James while the bed underneath them gave a loud _crack_.

Peter couldn't help but laugh. "You can't say I didn't warn you."

"Yeah, yeah," Sirius muttered bitterly. "No need to rub it in."

"Get off me, Sirius!" James exclaimed, pushing Sirius off of him. "Oh Merlin…"

The three boys stared at the remains of Remus' bed…if you could call it a bed. The legs had snapped off, and the wood around had cracked. The mattress was still in tact, though.

Peter gaped at the mess. "What are you going to do?"

"Well," said Sirius, dragging out the 'well' to add the suspense. "We could try and get a detention by telling a professor and get them to fix it, and make sure Remmy never knows…"

"What?" James asked. "Are you using your brain, Sirius? Forget Remus, but they might tell our parents…"

"Are you scared, Potter?" Sirius asked slyly.

"No, I'm not _scared_…at least I'm not the one scared of my own friend," said James haughtily.

"Touché," Sirius muttered.

"Okay, Pete, what d'you think we should do?" James turned to face Peter, startling the chubby boy.

"W - what?"

Sirius rolled his eyes, but didn't comment.

"Should we tell Remus?" James said impatiently.

"Oh, well," Peter hesitated. "It is his bed. I'd rather tell him and not a teacher."

"I _agree_!" exclaimed James, shooting a playful look at Sirius.

Sirius was not so keen on the idea, but it was quite apparent he was outvoted.

"Fine, let's go get Remmy out of the Hospital Wing."

The boys grabbed their wands, Sirius a few dungbombs, and they ran out the dormitory door. They did not care for the ruckus they were making.

They were on a roll, until they ran into a poltergeist, who looked much too happy to see them.

"Potty Wee Potter…Blackity Blackity Black…and Pet a Pettigrew," Peeves started to sing in an annoyingly catchy tune that James found himself humming to before realizing it.

"Peeves, get away," James said, swatting his hand.

"Ooh, naughty, naughty, Potty…will tell Dumblehead!"

"Augh," James muttered under his breath. "Where's Remus when you need him?"

"Loopy Lupin's in the Hospital Wing," Peeves replied in his annoying voice, looking smug that he knew something the boys did not.

"We're aware of that, Little Peevsie. Now move along," Sirius said, unaware of the warning glares James and Peter were giving him.

Peeves leapt into the air, pulling orange and pink things that seemed to have once been invisible. He whipped them at the boys, splashing them with water.

"Water balloons?" Sirius asked, seeming amused. "Really?"

Needless to say, James and Peter were not very pleased right now. Fortunately, Peeves did not bother the two bystanders. Instead, he turned invisible.

"GOT YOUR CONK!" Peeves voice suddenly yelled as Sirius staggered back, holding his nose in pain. "HAH! Got you, Black!"

Peeves stuck his tongue out and flew off.

"That was so bloody frustrating," Sirius muttered. "I hate that _thing_."

"Did you not listen to Quintin's story?" James hissed.

Sirius glared at James. "Well, I'm sorry I'm not obsessed with the boy that I hold everything he says close to heart!"

James scowled. "I am not bloody obsessed with him."

Sirius and Peter exchanged looks that suggested that James _was _obsessed with Quintin. But neither decided to voice it because Sirius wanted to see Remus, and Peter…well, let's just say Peter was a bit shy.

"Anyway, we're off to see Remus, the wonderful wizard of Rems!" James sang, a lot like the Muggle film _The Wizard of Oz_.

"What the hell are those lyrics?" Sirius asked, looking quite weirded out. "The wonderful wizard of Rems?"

"Well, I don't know where he's from!" James defended himself.

Sirius rubbed his nose. "Anyway, we _must_ save Remus!"

"Save?" asked Peter, looking a little confused. These boys could be rather random, and it made it difficult to follow what they were talking about. Not that he was complaining, of course.

"Yes, save," Sirius said, rolling his eyes.

James widened his eyes, as if he had forgot. "THE HOSPITAL WING!"

"Yes!" Sirius exclaimed. "The nurse'll never let him out!"

"We can't break down the door again," Peter said softly, perhaps a little too softly as he was not paid any attention to.

James put his fist in the air. "Well, let's march!"

Sirius and Peter nodded eagerly.

"One. Two. One. Two," Sirius chanted, trying to take charge. So James joined in.

Peter marched excitedly behind them, not trying to take charge. It was a good thing that no one was awake at such an ungodly hour of the morning. It was not the most preferred to sights to be seen first thing in the morning.

When they reached the hospital wing, Sirius wasted no time in banging on the door. There was a loud sigh and the sound of footsteps hurrying to open the door.

"Who could it be to wake Poppy Pomfrey at such an early hour of the day?" the nurse muttered as she unlocked the door.

After a look from James, the three got into 'position'.

Needless to say, when Madam Pomfrey opened the door, she got a bit of a shock. She was greeted with three boys standing in some sort of triangular formation, with all their arms crossed.

"What are you doing?" she asked, looking more than a little confused.

James, who was standing at the next to Sirius, while Peter was standing back at the apex of the triangle, stood still, and didn't answer.

"Wow, this is really creepy so early in the morning, boys," she paused, eyeing Peter curiously. "It's funny, it looks as if Pettigrew is the mastermind behind all this. I think he should deserve one detention, to be served tonight."

James and Sirius were mad. Peter was feeling quite the contrary. This was exciting! He wasn't going to be last – well, he wasn't going to have zero detentions after all!

"And why, Madam Pom Poms, must you do that?" Sirius demanded, putting his foot down.

Madam Pomfrey was not very focused on the question Sirius had posed to her, but rather, on what he had called her. She asked, not looking very pleased with the 'nickname'.

"It's a nickname, because you made the mistake of sharing your name" James said dismissively, saving the nurse from the possible long description of what a nickname was by Sirius.

"Yes, wait, whe—"

"Miss Pom Poms!" Sirius exclaimed. "I wish to see Remmy and get him out of here as soon as possible!"

"And me!" James added, looking a little frustrated that he was left out. "And Peter!"

"Yeah, and them," Sirius rectified.

"I'm letting him out at noon, he needs some rest," Madam Pomfrey said, choosing not to comment on the new nickname for the fear of it never going away. "So come back later."

"NO!" Sirius actually yelled. "Remus comes back _now_!"

"Look, boys, you don't understand about taking care of someone when they are ill…"

"And you are being overprotective," James said.

"Remus is sleeping," Madam Pomfrey tried again.

Sirius was busy contemplating why Madam Pomfrey was calling Remus by his first name, while Peter actually laughed.

"We have plenty of experience with that!"

Looking a little frightened as to what she had done, she held out her hands in some sort of a 'stop' signal.

"Don't wake him up!"

Sirius reached his hand into his pocket. "We will unleash the _dungbomb_ on you!"

"And he will," James backed Sirius up. "Just ask all the other teachers if you don't believe my warning."

Resigning to herself to her – and Remus' – fate, she sighed. Obviously, the three boys took this as an invitation to burst into her lovely, quiet Hospital Wing, making as much noise as physically possible.

"REM REM REMUS!" James started calling.

"REMMITY REMMITY REMMY!" Sirius chanted.

"Er…" Peter was slightly unsure. "REMUS!"

The three were about to jump onto Remus' bed, but were instead launched backwards.

"What the hell?" James asked, looking confused.

"Madam Pom Poms!" Sirius said in a reprimanding tone of voice. "What did you do?"

The nurse looked rather smug. "I do not like to have my patients disrupted."

Peter tapped on James' shoulder and whispered something. James' eyes lit up and made a motion – that surprisingly wasn't obscure – to Sirius, who grinned.

Madam Pomfrey didn't like what she was seeing. She supposed that the boys could be a little more discreet about they planning so they didn't create such paranoia.

The three boys held up their wands, pointing them at the sandy haired boy who was laying in bed.

"Oh no. No. Stop. Stop. No. No," Madam Pomfrey was panicking.

"FINITE INCANTATEM!" The three boys yelled, being unnecessarily loud.

"Oh Merlin…" Madam Pomfrey muttered. "You guys aren't supposed to know that spell…"

The three boys redid their epic jump scene, and it led to one screaming Remus Lupin.

"WHAT THE HELL!"

The three immediately softened. James and Peter stepped back, expecting Sirius to do the same, but of course he always had to be different.

"Ah, Remmy, missed you."

"Get off me," said Remus, pushing Sirius away. "And don't call me Remmy."

Sirius grinned. "Still missed you."

He received a playful punch from James. Remus rubbed his eyes and sat up.

"What time is it, anyway?"

James and Sirius didn't seem to find this a good question to answer. Peter, obviously, didn't get a hint, and looked, in fact, pleased that he knew something.

"It's four in the morning."

"FOUR IN THE MORNING?!" Remus looked to be on the verge of a panic attack. "It cannot be four in the morning. You did not wake me up at four in the morning!"

Madam Pomfrey saw this as her opportunity to get involved, as well as get her way.

"It is. So, if you would like to stay here and get some rest, I would be happ—"

"Shut it, Pom Poms," said Sirius, seeming to have forgot the idea of respect.

"_Excuse me_?"

Sirius didn't get the hint. "Shut it."

"_Sirius_," Remus hissed, not looking one bit pleased…actually annoyed would be the better term. "You can't tell a teacher to shut up!"

"I didn't…I said shut it," Sirius said, before widening his eyes. "Oops."

"Detention," said the nurse, in a moment of unthinkingness.

"Yes!"

James sighed. "Ignore him. He's a bit hyper in the morning. Personally, I need to get some food. And I need to pee. I get grumpy when I'm hungry and need to pee, especially when this happens at the same time."

"So don't argue with him," Peter added helpfully.

"Yes. So, when I say that we are taking Remus out of this Hospital Wing, we _will_ be taking Remus out of this Hospital Wing. Just don't argue, and no one gets hurt. We know some spells now."

Madam Pomfrey was not in the mood to argue.

"Whatever you say. I'm too tired to have to argue."

Remus looked quite grateful. He didn't really like the Hospital Wing that much, and even if it meant he had to deal with some dunces at four in the morning, he didn't care.

"Why are you tired?" asked Peter innocently.

"Because I've stayed up all night waiting for you boys to show up and raid my beautiful and peaceful Hospital Wing. I had to be on my guard."

Remus grinned when Sirius offered to give him a piggyback ride and politely declined. He then turned to Madam Pomfrey.

"Bye Poppy. See you."

"And you, Remus," she said, smiling.

Of course, as soon as the boys exited the Wing, Remus was bombarded with questions as to why Madam Pomfrey and he were on a first name basis.

"Because I was getting tired of being called Mr Lupin," said Remus, exasperated.

"So…do you have a crush on her? Because you didn't ask Minnie to do that…" said Sirius predictably.

"No!" Remus was so done. "What is with you and my bloody crushes? First Lillers, and now Poppy. _I don't have a crush_!"

"Okay," Sirius said, putting his hands up in defense. "No need to spazz."

Remus suddenly plastered a really innocent look upon his face.

"That doesn't look good," said Peter, a little less discreetly than he probably should have.

"So, you know, because I've been sick, and since it's really early, what do you boys say to a little nap?"

"Shut up, Remus," said James moodily. "I want food. And I have to pee."

"Me too!" Peter said excitedly.

Sirius and Remus caught eyes and grinned. Peter was always so eager to do whatever James was doing.

"Well, you know, that would be a lot easier if we knew where the kitchens were," said Remus sardonically.

"I've an idea!" announced Sirius. "Let's go find the kitchens!"

"Where the hell are we going to find the kitchens?" Remus did not look pleased.

"Hey, it was your idea," Sirius pointed out.

"I still need to pee," James said, reminding everyone that he was liable to piss in his pants at any moment with the odd dance he was doing.

"Me too!" Peter was attempting to copy the dance.

"What are you doing, Pete?" Sirius asked, looking oddly at Peter.

Peter blushed and stopped.

"Anyway," said James. "We're going to the lavatory."

"Hey, wait up!" Sirius called, chasing after James, alongside Peter and Remus.

James ran into the bathroom, and everyone awkwardly waited outside.

"I think I'm going to join him," Peter declared.

Sirius blinked. "You can't just go to the bathroom and _join_ James."

"Fine, I have to go," Peter rectified.

"Not buying it," Sirius said, looking disgusted.

Remus stood quietly in the back. He didn't want to say anything to Sirius, but he got the odd feeling that Peter was not lying when he said he had to go to the bathroom…

And then it happened. Peter had just peed in his pants.

"AUGH!" Sirius yelled, stepping as far away as he could. "What is this?"

Peter looked humiliated.

"I said I had to go," he said, in a timid voice.

"SO GO WHEN YOU HAVE TO GO!" Sirius could not understand why Peter had not gone.

Remus scrunched his nose. The whole hall was going to start smelling.

"You told me not to…" Peter defended.

At this moment, James chose to walk out of the bathroom, and stepped into the puddle of pee. Fortunately, he did not slip.

"What happened?"

"That's Peter's _pee_," Sirius said, narrowing his eyes at the chubby boy.

"Did you not let him go?" James looked aghast at the thought.

"How was I supposed to know he wasn't lying?" Sirius replied, looking angry.

"Most people don't lie when they have to go to the bathroom!" James exclaimed.

He then stepped away from the pee puddle, and very far from Peter. There was an awkward silence, until Peter broke it.

"I'm really sorry, I'll go up to the Common Room and change…don't hate me."

With that, Peter started to hobble towards the Common Room.

"Someone's got to go with him," Remus said. "He probably forgot the password again. And I'm not going."

"Me neither," James said hastily.

Sirius let out a dramatic groan. "_I_ don't want to go with him!"

"It's not _my _fault he had this little accident. Just go."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'm sorry."

"Go tell that to him!"

Sirius jogged to catch up with Peter.

James then turned to Remus, who was scrunching his nose.

"You all right?"

"No," Remus responded. "This whole place _stinks_."

"It's okay," James said. "Let's go to our dormitory and wash up. I've got to change."

Remus nodded and started to walk.

"So what were you sick with?" James asked, getting bored of the quiet walk they were having.

Remus thought that it would be better to play it dumb.

"I was sick?"

"Yeah, you were in the Hospital Wing, remember?"

"I was?"

"Yeah!"

"Oh, you're right, I was…I thought we just went exploring. Apparently I got sick from lack of sleep."

James looked ashamed. "Sorry, Rems. We'll try to make sure you get enough sleep next time."

"Okay."

Eager to restart the conversation, James said, "We're going to the Quidditch Pitch today."

"_What_?" Remus was more than a bit startled. "I thought that that was yesterday!"

"Yeah, we scheduled another one today."

"You can't do that!"

"Why ever not?"

"Because…" Remus trailed off, unable to think of any reasons. "Tiddly Wigs."

James laughed and led Remus up to the dormitory, because _clearly_, Remus could not do that on his own.

When they entered, a very grumpy Sirius greeted them.

"He is so weird," Sirius hissed, while updating the Detention sheet.

**DETENTION CONTEST: 1978 GRYFFINDOR WIZARDS**

**James Potter: X 6**

**Sirius Black: X 6**

**Remus Lupin: 6**

**Peter Pettigrew: X 1**

"Shut it, Sirius. He's weird, but he's our friend," James said, casually taking off his shirt, after making sure Sirius did not cheat when writing down the scores.

Remus, on the other hand, was looking uncomfortable.

"Is Peter in the bathroom?"

"Yeah," Sirius said, quickly getting over the events of what happened prior. "Anyway, James, Peter, like, admires me. However annoying, he looks _up_ to me."

James rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Well, yeah, he wants to be like us, which is why I don't want to shun him. We could use a fan club around here. However gross it is, it is only likely to grow."

Remus grabbed his clothes and went behind the curtains, getting ready to change his clothes.

"I'll say. Especially as we start to play more pranks," said Sirius. "Besides, we'll be prodigies. All the people will look up to the abnormally smart First Years."

"Who _never_ study," James added.

"Speaking of which, did I do my homework?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah," James replied. "We did it last night, remember?"

"I thought we did it the night before."

"We did," James corrected, although not pointing out that he made a mistake prior.

"Oh, you made the mistake. Anyway, let me go get it for Remmy to copy."

"Okay."

Remus opened the curtain and walked out.

"Have I ever mentioned that you're a really fast changer?" James asked, turning to face the small boy. "Oh, you're cuff is undone, let me…"

Remus widened his eyes and quickly did his cuff up, covering the skin.

"What was that?" James asked, suddenly curious. "I saw something."

"No you didn't," Remus said stupidly.

"No, I saw—"

"You're imagining things," Remus said quickly, not wanting James to announce his scar he probably caught sight of loud enough for Sirius to hear and comment.

"Are you saying I'm delusional?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

James suddenly felt very confused and worried. "Am I really? Wait what? Are you for real?"

Remus wanted to whip his head against the wall.

"Yes, I'm for real."

"Wait, but if I'm imagining things…is Quintin for real?"

Sirius, finally having grabbed his homework, burst into hysterical laughter.

"Guy wants a fan club, but is too busy fan _girling_ over the Quidditch captain. Anyway, here's the work, Remmy, you should copy it so we can hurry up and do other things. And before you argue, I owe you it, this is what friends do."

Remus caught the homework and started to copy it down, even if it was against his morals. At the end of the day, it felt good to have friends.

"I don't fan girl!" James retorted, looking insulted.

"It's okay, James, I understand. If you want a Kleenex that he used, I'd be happy to direct you to—"

"Shut up," James muttered.

Peter walked out of the bathroom, still really red.

"Hey, don't worry about it Peter," Sirius said. "I didn't mean to shout."

Peter looked down at the floor. "I'm really stupid."

"That may be true, but no hard feelings, all right, Pete?"

James seemed to find this very funny. In fact, Remus did too, but he was a little more tactful when it came to showing his amusement.

* * *

><p>James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were eating lunch.<p>

"Oh, Rem, how are you?" Lily had found it absolutely prudent to come and interrupt the Gryffindor boys from their peaceful meal.

Remus tried to ignore the glaring at Lily.

"I'm feeling much better, thanks for asking."

"Well, your _friends_ seemed to think that they were taking notes for you, and I was thinking that since their notes might not be so good – I mean, in defense, they showed up late – so we can meet and I can share my notes with you."

Remus glanced at all his friends, James looked like he wanted to slap Lily in the face.

"Actually, Lillers, er, their notes were pretty good."

"What?"

"Exactly Evans, we're better friends than you could ever be," James said.

Lily looked at James with a look of pure loathing before stomping out of the Great Hall, being chased by Severus.

"Finally, she's gone," James said.

Quintin stood up at the other side of the table, and called out to the boys.

"You all are comin', right?"

"Yeah!" James replied eagerly, standing up as well. "Come on!"

"Oh, please, can we not?" Remus asked, in a last desperate attempt to avoid going.

James rolled his eyes, but Remus stayed put and pulled out his wand.

**A/N: Did you like it? Was it worth the wait? Would you like to review to spazz at me (I won't complain)? Would you like to compliment? To..._flame_? I don't really care, but I'd like to hear your opinions! Although, I'm not in the mood to set a review count for the next chapter, I'll update soon (like in an actual week this time).  
><strong>

**To thank my reviewers:**

**PhoenixTears1001: Thank you for your five reviews. They were very appreciated. And yes, Remus was missing, but he's back now! So that's improvement right there.**

**Guest: I don't know what P means, but I'm guessing :P, and so I'm glad you found it amusing and chose to make that face at the computer XD**

**tryingtobesomebody26: Thank you for your review. No need to try and be somebody, because, low and behold, you are! XD, I'm sorry you joined at a time where it took me forever to update, ask anyone, I don't take this long on this fic normally. **

**SiriuslyLoopyDora: Thank you for your review! Yes, I think it would work to state their reactions more during Quintin's long rants. And I'm hoping not keep the Marauders _too _suspicious after one full moon, but the time will come. This full moon wasn't too bad this time around, but they'll get worse with the stress of school. He didn't attack his face, so I'm going to make him cover up the scars 24/7! And I think you're suggestion is interesting...I think I'll use it at some point...soonish...**

**islagrace1: Thank you for your two reviews! They make me feel great!**

**GryffindorBeth: Thanks for the review! I'm going to do a random time lapse soon (they happen in the books too), because it's only Sunday, and they haven't gone through a week of school yet, and it's been like 70k words...so I kind of am trying to _seamlessly_ move on and get to the epic portions of the Marauders years...**

**zzz4730: As always, thank you for your kind review. You have given me one of the best compliments I have ever received, it was so kind of you...to relate me to the best authour of all time... :')**

**Anyway, thank you for your reviews!**

**PREVIEW:**

**"I really don't like flying."**

**"Oh come on! This is what everyone does in the Magical World!" James exclaimed, looking like he was having the time of his life. "Don't be a wimp."**


	14. The Quaffle, Seeker, and Hearts

**A/N: I updated! I honestly didn't realize how much I missed writing this story until I truly started to get into it. I'm really, really sorry for the late update, but I couldn't really update with the summer going on, I do a lot over the summer related to golf, and so that tends to be my main focus. If it means anything, I didn't do any studying for the SATs either, which I probably should have done, nor did I even open my computer. Hopefully with the summer ending and school starting, I will be able to update in the way that I used to, seeing as I have full access to my computer. Anyway, enjoy this chapter, I think you'll like it! **

**Chapter 14: The Quaffle, Seeker, and Hearts**

"Remus, just put down the wand," James said. "I already said 'yes' to Quintin!"

"And you know…once you say 'yes' to _Quintin_, we must do it," Sirius said dryly.

Peter smiled. "There's no point in trying to argue, Remus."

"I know…but one can always hope, can't they?" Remus asked with a wry smile as he stood up.

Obviously, James and Sirius saw this as an opportunity to whoop and cheer in triumph obnoxiously loud so that they received a lot of stares.

"Be quieter," Remus hissed, but he knew the battle was lost. He found that the easiest way to direct the attention away from him was if they left the Great Hall. So that was what he did.

The four left the Great Hall and headed for the Quidditch Pitch…Peter was lagging a bit behind. No one really wanted to sit too close to him, for fear of him wetting himself once more.

Soon, they arrived at the Quidditch Pitch, which was empty. This was probably because all the players were in the change rooms, and no one else was supposed to be there. Remus was not pleased that he had to be among the idiots who showed up at the Quidditch Pitch who were not part of the team, and had in fact shown up _before_ the actual team. Of course, none of the others seemed to feel that they were an abnormality.

"C'mon, we're sitting here," James said, pulling Remus down.

"You're too eager for all this, honestly," Sirius commented. "I mean, I'm obsessed with Quidditch, but _real_ Quidditch."

"He's being like Blake," Peter said.

"Oh yes," Sirius said, nodding solemnly. "His role model…"

"He's fairly successful," Remus said fairly, trying to get his mind off of the Quaffle that would soon be tossed around the Pitch. "If James had to have a role model, I would rather Quintin than someone else."

"Yeah!" James said happily. "Listen to the smart man over here!"

"Me?" Sirius queried cheekily. "Of course I listen to me."

"Not you, the actual smart one!"

"Hey, I resent that!"

"That was the point."

"It's good to know I'm so special that I'm worth arguing over," Remus said, before seeing a hoard of boys – and girl – walk onto to the field. "Oh _great_! The team is here."

"There was no sarcasm in that statement," Peter added helpfully.

James and Sirius were busy giving a standing ovation to the Gryffindor team. Quintin and Chase took a few bows, much to Lee's annoyance.

"And the worse part is, that would be what James and Sirius would do," Remus muttered. "Seven years of dealing with this stupidity is just too much."

"It's funny, really," Peter said.

"For you. You're not the one who has to watch a bloody Quaffle fly around the place!"

Peter tried to raise an eyebrow, but it didn't quite work; he held down one of his eyebrows with his finger.

"Peter," Remus looked like he was seriously considering Peter's mental health. "What are you doing?"

Peter felt his face grow hot. "I'm looking skeptical…"

Remus stared at Peter and shook his head. "No, Peter, you don't look skeptical when you do that…maybe we should leave and pra—"

"REMUS!" Quintin called. "You're here!"

"This the one who doesn't like Quidditch?" Chase asked, holding out his hand. "Chase Phillips."

Remus looked as if the last thing he wanted to happen had just happened, but he took the hand nonetheless.

"Pleasure. Remus Lupin. I don't want to be here."

Chase laughed, but Quintin looked insulted.

"Oh you will once we're done with this practice. Seriously, mate, you don't know what you're missing. Quidditch truly is a fun game, and most of the ti—"

"You should really start now, Quintin. Before Remus finds a way to get outta – Remmy! Get back here!" Remus groaned and let Sirius drag him back.

"ALL RIGHT, TEAM! Let's get started," Quintin bent down and reached for the snitch. "I'm letting the snitch go, Trevor, shut your eyes."

Trevor grumbled under his breath as he shut his eyes. "I still don't get why we have to do this."

"_Because_, it allows you to start fresh without knowing where the snitch is. Otherwise, this practice becomes useless if you just follow it with your eyes and then as soon as I say 'go' you dart towards it."

"Yes, but that's what I do in a real game."

"So, this is harder. Now quit arguing with the captain."

Trevor crossed his arms moodily.

Remus turned to his friends.

"I don't get it. I didn't come here to watch Quintin be a prat, did I?"

"Shut up, he is _not_ a prat," James said. "He's coaching a team, and the way he does it is to make sure everyone knows whose boss. It's very clever. I think that I have never seen a captain order his team successfully and still remain well liked. It's amazing."

Remus glanced at Sirius, who had mimed a gunshot to his head. Peter, on the other hand, was doing everything James was doing. James seemed to be concentrating quite hard on what Quintin was saying, therefore, Peter did as well.

"Kaitlin, get to the posts, _now_," Quintin ordered. "I'm going to have the Chasers play on you as always, but I'm going to get Lee to hit bludgers at you."

"What the hell, Quintin!" Lee exclaimed. "I'm not doing that! She's a bloody _girl_! I'm not hitting at a girl."

"Shut up!" Kaitlin looked furious. "Lee, quit treating me like a separate entity! I'm on the team, and I can play just _fine_ without you going all princess on me."

"Sorry, Kate, just looking out for you…"

"Well, I don't need it."

Kaitlin flew off huffily, and Lee followed, looking apologetic. Quintin stared on wistfully.

"Feisty, eh?" he muttered to the first years.

James nodded – which meant Peter did as well – while Remus rolled his eyes.

"I thought I came to watch Quidditch," Remus said.

"Yeah, I thought we did too," Sirius agreed. "And believe it or not, that is exactly what we are about to do."

"And to think, I thought you were actually going to stand on my ground for once," Remus mumbled.

"Okay, and I'm going to want my Chasers to play with the Quaffle whilst flying in random directions. Eye contact cannot be made with any of your fellow Chasers as you strive to throw it through the hoops where Kaitlin is, while I'll be sending a Bludger in your direction. Of course, this is only the first drill, I am not saying that Lee and I are so spectacular that we don't need to practice our own flying in unison, but this is just for now. Now, let's go!" Quintin finished with a way too happy smile to be sane as he watched the other members of the team fly into their position.

James nodded at the whole escapade appreciatively, giving a thumbs up to Quintin when he looked at them. Peter furrowed his brow, not in the mood to continue acting exactly like James; it was really difficult! Sirius grinned at Remus, who was now looking as if he would rather die than have to witness the game.

"It's fun, Remus! Look, watch Trevor!" Sirius exclaimed.

Remus looked at Trevor and tried to not look that impressed. Peter, on the other hand, did not attempt to hide his awe.

"He's _amazing_! I wish I could fly that fast."

"He's going to catch the Snitch!" Sirius shouted a second time.

James and Sirius cheered quite loudly when Trevor reached out and grabbed the Snitch. He grinned at the four, the prior animosity diminishing as they cheered.

What Remus was more focused on, though, was the Keeper. He didn't quite understand how anyone could be brave enough to play a position where people are whipping highly dangerous looking balls towards you, and you have to fly towards one of them and risk your _life_ while blocking it.

Sirius was focused quite a bit on the Beaters, once he had watched Trevor caught the Snitch. He found it entertaining to watch them fly towards the heavy balls and whip them away with the bat. He also enjoyed watching the amount of control the Beaters were able to put upon the uncontrollable Bludgers…it reminded him of fighting a war, which seemed to be quite fun.

James was watching the Chasers. He watched them fly, almost as if they were on a seesaw. He saw that when Quintin would hit a Bludger towards one of them – Chase – he would fly down, but then Fergus would be prepared to catch the Quaffle that Chase would drop, while Rufus would attempt to distract the bludger until Lee would come to hit it away.

Peter found the entire match fascinating. He longed that one day he would be good enough at Quidditch to even play half as good as the Gryffindor team. But he truly admired the Seeker. There was a lot of pressure on Trevor who was looking for the Snitch, knowing that the fate of the match would depend on him – along with the team members' butt pain. He also found that Trevor's flight style was rather sneaky. As he would look for the Snitch, he would weave in and out between team members, around the Bludgers, and underneath most of the match, somehow avoiding the Quaffle that was constantly being dropped as part of the Chasers' strategy, without a second glance. He looked natural in that position, and Peter admired that. Not that he was being a fan girl over the Seeker, it was just a thought of course.

After a few rounds, Remus was finding it harder to look bored. The flying had been rather fun to watch, and watching the swiftness and smoothness of the players' flying was intense. Of course, this momentary peace would never last long when you looked as who he had chosen – forced – to be friends with.

James and Sirius had noticed Remus' change in demeanor, and high fived that their plan to make their friend like Quidditch was working. Remus gave them an annoyed glare in return for their, er, kind gesture.

After three hours, the team had stopped flying.

"_Finally_!" Remus said unnecessarily loud. "That was the longest hour of my life!"

"Er, Rems, it was actually three," James rectified.

"It was still really, really long. I found it painful!" Remus said, trying not to look surprised at the new information. It didn't really work as well as he hoped, but no one commented on it. It was Remus' mistake to believe it was out of the goodness of their hearts.

James had walked up to Quintin and shook his hand, puffing out his chest to make himself look older.

"That was some brilliant flying, Quintin."

"It was, wasn't it? I know, it's taken quite a bit of…"

"There the two lovebirds go again," Sirius muttered, watching Quintin speak animatedly to James, who looked just as eager.

"But honestly, Sirius, did you expect anything different?" Remus said, smiling a little.

"No, not really…this is really bad for my reputation, being friends with a boy like James."

Peter had called it upon himself to defend James.

"What are you talking about, Sirius? James is a really cool person. He comes up with so many cool ideas, and he is a really nice person who is nice to me and likes me and is my friend and –"

"Peter, Sirius was joking," Remus said.

Peter started to blushing furiously and started to look very put out. It wasn't his fault he had thought Sirius was being mean to James. But James defended Peter, and he thought he had to return the favour. Peter did not understand why Sirius didn't announce that he was telling a joke; it would have cured much of the confusion.

"It's okay, mate," Sirius said, patting Peter, who was apparently looking quite distraught, on the back. "At least we know your heart is in the right place."

"Yes, thank you, Quintin!" James exclamation was suddenly heard throughout the entire field. The other members of the Quidditch team had actually _turned around_ to see what the big fuss was about.

"No problem, I'm trusting you. If anyone could get it done, it could be you. Just keep up your end of the stick," Quintin responded, grinning at James' obvious enthusiasm at whatever was about to take place. "I'll stop by next week onwards."

"Sounds good, Quintin, thank you!" James said again.

Quintin flashed a wink in James' direction before running towards the rest of his team. He could be faintly heard giving a lecture about how the team shouldn't have to stop and watch any drama happen when they see that the outburst is from on the First Year Gryffindor boys, much to said boys' amusement.

"James, what was that about?" Peter asked. "I heard you screaming."

Sirius and Remus rolled their eyes at Peter's bluntness, but after a look from James, made the smart decision to not comment.

James was positively beaming as he was getting ready to explain, and Remus just seemed to know that this wasn't a good sign.

"So…" James drew the 'so' out to create suspense, which Remus added to the list of reasons whatever James was going to say was definitely a bad thing. Sirius, on the other hand, was looking more excited with the added drama, and Peter, well, he was practically drooling. "I was talking to Quintin…"

"No, really?" Remus deadpanned, not hiding in any way that he was annoyed with the overly dramatized statement.

James looked at Remus. "Seriously, you're going to like this."

Now, this probably would have been more comforting if it was said by someone else, or if James wasn't saying it with one very cheeky grin, or if the wink James had given in Sirius' direction after the statement was said hadn't taken place.

"I better," Remus muttered, trying to find even the smallest reason to believe James.

"You will," James repeated confidently. "So anyway, Quintin and I were talking about Quidditch," Sirius refrained from pointing out the redundancy of that fact. "And we agreed that in order to take Remus' love for the game to the next level –"

"Damn it. You'll never just let me be, will you?" Remus said.

"Nope!" James said, grinning. "So Quintin said that we could use the Quidditch pitch right now, and starting next week, he'll be giving us lessons!"

"No way!" Peter's jaw had dropped. How was James so good?

Sirius thumped James on the back. "I knew there was a good reason for keeping you around!"

No one seemed to ask what Remus thought on the matter, so Remus took the liberty of pointing it out himself.

"I think that's a horrendous idea."

"Oh come on, Remus, don't be such a buzz kill," Sirius said. "It'll be fun."

See, there were a few reasons Remus did not like this arrangement. Number one, when he came to the school, he had decided to not make many friends to _not_ bring attention to his lycanthropy. That plan backfired the second the stupid hat had put him in Gryffindor. Number two, he would have to change into a Quidditch uniform, and with all those damn suspicious scars he had on top of his body…let's just say it wouldn't be easy to inconspicuously always seek privacy when he changed. Number three, a Seventh Year would be much more likely to notice patterns that Remus was a werewolf; he was certain that werewolves would be covered at some point in time during a student's education at Hogwarts. So, in response to Sirius' question, _no_ the bloody arrangement wasn't such a good idea, it would just make Remus more stressed.

"I'm not being a buzz kill, I'm just being practical," Remus said, not voicing his true thoughts.

James and Sirius rolled their eyes.

"Remus," James said. "Quintin said it would be fun, and he's a Seventh Year and is _obviously_ responsible since he's Quidditch captain. So pull that stick out of your arse and just have some fun."

"Or I'll have to pull it personally," Sirius said helpfully, with a cheesy wink at the end. "You know how much fun that's gonna be."

Realizing he had absolutely no hope at winning this argument, Remus agreed with a simple, "It's 'going to'."

Peter grinned happily, now that Remus said 'yes', there was no way he would be the worst flyer in the entire Year; he was going to be getting personal lessons from the Quidditch captain! This was turning out to be better than he had ever expected.

"Brilliant!" James said, sprinting to the broom shed.

Sirius ran behind him, quickly catching up to James, whilst Peter was breathing heavily a few meters behind. Remus started running fast, but then compared his speed to James – who was clearly the fastest runner of the lot – and slowed his pace down. By the time they reached, James, Sirius, and Peter was gulping air as if their lives depended on it, while Remus was breathing a little faster, but nothing in comparism to his friends.

"How – are you –" Sirius paused to make sure he was breathing finally. "How are you not dying?"

Remus was having a mental panic attack at what to tell Sirius. He didn't know how to fake pant without it looking oddly deliberate. Fortunately, he had a really good friend to save him from this dilemma. Peter was furrowing his brow, looking confusedly at the question Sirius had posed to Remus.

"Should we be expecting a student Remus' age to be dying?"

Remus actually chuckled at that, but was careful not to catch Sirius' eye for fear of bursting into an uncontrollable fit of laughter that couldn't be controlled.

"Yeah, Sirius, should I be dying?"

Sirius rolled his eyes at Remus' dumb response, but dropped the topic and grabbed a broom.

"These brooms really aren't that good. I'm going to see if I could get my dad or someone to owl us some real broomsticks," James said, looking at the broomsticks with distaste. "I'd expect them to at least have decent brooms for the reserve spots on the team."

"Perhaps that should be something you invest in when you become Quidditch captain," Sirius said, his grey eyes sparkling with amusement.

James looked very determined as he stared at the rotten broomsticks. There was no way he would let the team suffer with the century old pieces of wood. That would be the worst!

"Yes! That'll be the very first thing that I do."

Remus debating bringing up the fact that First Years weren't allowed to have relatives owl in brooms, and that there was probably a reason there weren't amazing brooms in the shed, but decided not to. After this much time spent around James, it appeared that whatever he wanted, he did. And that was that.

"Okay, whatever, pick up a broomstick and let's fly!" James announced. "I'll grab a Quaffle that we can toss around; Peter can be Keeper."

"Wait, I don't want to be Keeper…" Peter's voice got softer and softer as he spoke. "Why do I have to be Keeper? Can't Remus be Keeper?"

"We're not going to be throwing Quaffles at Remus, Pete," Sirius said exasperatedly.

"Besides, do you really think you're going to be able to catch the Quaffle? You have to take your hands off of the broomstick," James added.

Peter looked slightly put out, but decided that being able to fly and play Quidditch was better than doing nothing at all.

Remus was forever grateful that at least he wouldn't be the one who had to use himself as a shield for the posts against the Quaffle.

The four kicked off the ground as hard as they could, James holding the Quaffle in hand. It was obvious that James played Quidditch a lot, he seemed to look natural holding the Quaffle under his arm and flying.

Sirius seemed comfortable too, but his arms would waver slightly when he'd look to the ground, although he was clearly trying very hard to stay stoic.

Remus wasn't deathly afraid of heights, but to be frank, he really would rather be anywhere but here. Except for maybe the Shrieking Shack. But other than that…

Peter was looking very pale. However, he realized that, and was very frustrated with himself for being so frightened of heights. None of his friends were, why couldn't he just act the same way as them? It clearly wasn't so difficult.

James whipped the Quaffle in Sirius' direction, which Sirius, reached his arms out to catch, but found himself having to steady his broom for a second, of course being the second which the Quaffle needed to be caught. He looked down as he watched the Quaffle fly to the ground.

"I call a redo!" Sirius called, looking slightly embarrassed. "It doesn't count. I wasn't ready."

It was clearly a terrible excuse, but Remus and Peter didn't have the heart to call him out on it, knowing that they probably wouldn't have done much better. James hadn't heard Sirius' lame excuse, instead whizzing downwards and picking the Quaffle up in what neat swoop. He tossed the Quaffle up towards Sirius again, which Sirius caught.

"That's more like me!" Sirius said, beaming. He then tossed the Quaffle in Remus' direction.

Remus stared at the Quaffle and misjudged the parabolic flight of the Quaffle slightly. He arrived in time, but bumped his head against the Quaffle as opposed to catching it. James had already flown in to save the Quaffle from falling down again.

"Nice try, Rems, again!" James called, throwing it again to Remus.

Remus pulled his arms up, surprised at how steady the broom was being. Unfortunately, in his stupor thinking about how brilliant he was at flying, he ended up missing the Quaffle again. Sirius caught it this time, much to James' chagrin. Sirius stuck his tongue out at James childishly.

After a few more throws, Remus caught the Quaffle, and didn't miss it after that. He seemed to understand how to catch it once he had done it the first time.

Peter was getting very bored. He didn't understand why his friends needed a Keeper when they weren't throwing the Quaffle at him. But he was going to stay patient and show that he was a good friend and could be trusted. Maybe then he would fit in with the rest of the Gryffindors better. He was yanked out of his reverie, however, when he heard his name being yelled. He looked up and saw the red Quaffle racing at him at what must have been 6000 km/hr. Following his basic survival instincts, he flew out of the way and allowed the ball to fall straight through the middle hoop.

"I scored!" James exclaimed. "I'm the best thing's that's ever happened to Quidditch."

"It's only because Peter moved out of the way. It wasn't that hard of a shot," Sirius said. "Anyone could've done it with Peter in the goal posts."

Peter flew down to catch the Quaffle, really wanting to prove to his friends that he could fly just as good as any of them. As he flew down, however, he could feel the wind rushing in his face, but he also felt as though his stomach was dropping. He jumped off of the broom and clutched his stomach, trying to hold back the nauseated feeling he was having. He knew he shouldn't have eaten the extra whipped cream on top of his fruit at breakfast.

"Pete!" James said suddenly, rushing down to his friend's side. Sirius and Remus hurried quickly behind him, feeling bad that they hadn't noticed Peter themselves.

"I'm okay," Peter said, trying to muster the strength to look like nothing had happened.

"We should probably go to the Hospital Wing," Remus offered.

"No, I'm fine. I'm not a sick weakling," Peter said.

"Feisty!" Sirius said, grinning, but didn't say anything more.

"I'm pretty sure you didn't use 'feisty' in the right context, Sirius," Remus said.

"Shut up."

"Guys, guys?" James said, looking worriedly behind Remus and Sirius.

"I'm not going to shut up. In fact, I'm going to explain to you the true definition of 'feisty' to save you from the embarrassment of using it in the wrong context," Remus continued, ignoring James.

Sirius didn't appear to notice James' very worried look either.

"I'm not stupid, Remus, I know the meaning of 'feisty', it's just that I wanted to say something that sounded funny, and that worked."

"How was that funny? It's purely annoying."

"So I'm annoying now?"

"Yes! You've always been annoying."

"WHAT IN MERLIN'S NAME ARE YOU DOING OUTSIDE WITH BROOMSTICKS IN YOUR HANDS?"

Sirius and Remus stopped arguing at once and turned around to see one very mad Minerva McGonagall staring – no, glaring – at them.

"I tried to warn you," James muttered.

"Shut up, Potter! I asked a question."

"Well, Professor," Remus said, sounding very mature, and for a second, Sirius was certain Remus was going to blame him and James. "As you can see, we are obviously holding broomsticks in our hands and are not sweeping the Quidditch field, because you can clearly see the Quaffle laying right over there, so I believe it can be safe to assume that we were playing Quidditch."

McGonagall looked mutinous, but James and Peter had burst into laughter. Before McGonagall could respond, Sirius felt the desperate need to add in his two cents.

"Honestly, Minnie, with observational skills like yours, do you really think you're fit for being considered one of the cleverest professors?"

"SILENCE!"

* * *

><p><strong>DETENTION CONTEST: 1978 GRYFFINDOR WIZARDS<strong>

**James Potter: X X 11**

**Sirius Black: X 15**

**Remus Lupin: X 11**

**Peter Pettigrew: X 5**

Sirius beamed, "Well now I'm clearly leading this contest."

"Don't you think we could've handled that a bit better? Sirius, really, was all of your input necessary?" Remus asked, seeming very disturbed at what had been mentioned before.

"It was! Merlin knows, it's obvious Minnie wears silk pink underwear with hearts on it to go to bed!"

"Why do you even know that?" Peter asked.

James furrowed his brow. "Tell me you were joking, Sirius."

Sirius shot James a look. "Improvisation is an art, my young apprentices."

James looked very relieved.

"I don't even want to know what other art forms are going on inside your head, Sirius," Remus said, grimacing slightly.

"My head is a beautiful place."

"Yeah, I doubt that."

James was continuously glancing at the clock, looking a little nervous.

"What're you worried about, James?" Peter asked, and Sirius and Remus turned around quickly to see what the matter was.

"Me? Oh, er, I," James sighed before continuing. "I'm started to realize how bad this could probably go."

"Er, what could probably go?" Sirius asked, looking very confused, glancing at Remus for some sort of recognition on what James was referencing, which he did not receive.

"You'll see," James said, watching the second hand on the clock tick.

Sirius raised his eyebrows, but didn't press.

"Do you think we should remember what you are about to do? I mean, the way you're looking, it seems like this would be something very humiliating…" Remus said, his eyes giving off a devious glint.

"No! I mean, no, it's not going to be all that memorable," James said.

Remus glanced at James, and then looked at Sirius, who looked very excited. Peter, too, was looking forward to not being the only one who had been humiliated today.

James didn't miss the looks, but knew that if he said anything else, he would just be digging himself into a deeper hole. As soon as the clock struck 3:17, James got off of the bed and went to the bathroom.

Within a grand total of thirty seconds, Sirius was getting very jumpy.

"Ooh, come out, James, what's taking you so long? Are you getting your tresses all glittered up? Or perhaps dying that hazel eye pink? Come out!"

"Sirius!" Remus hissed. "Let him take his time! It will probably look worse."

Sirius actually obliged.

"I like this troublemaker you, Remmy."

"I've always – you guys are a really bad influence."

At precisely 3:31, James came out of the bathroom and shut the curtains in front of his bed.

"Hey – James!" Sirius exclaimed.

"He's looking hideous," Peter said, who seemed to have caught sight of what James had done before. "He had long hair. Long red hair."

Sirius was already grinning at the prospect of seeing James in long red hair.

At exactly 3:43, James asked, "How'm I doin' time wise?"

Remus looked confused but responded nonetheless, "3:43, James."

"Yes! Right on schedule!" James exclaimed, coming out of the curtains.

Upon seeing James, the three other First Years fell onto the floor in hysterical laughter.

"All right, laugh it up, you guys. Remus, you owe me!"

"Me?" Remus barely gasped between his laughter. "Is this your side of the deal with Quintin?"

"Yes, okay, now, just, shut up. It's bad enough as it is," James said, his face going bright red.

"Oh, that really compliments your hair," Sirius choked.

James had come out of the curtain with long red wavy hair and bright green eyes. He was wearing this sort of grass skirt and shells on top of his chest, as well as no shoes, although his toes and fingers were painted deep red with small green spots on each of them. In fact, he looked quite a bit like Lily Evans.

"What was the deal?" Peter asked curiously.

"Actually, the more important question is why do you have all that stuff with you in the first place?" Sirius asked, eyeing James up and down.

"It was a prank kit, all right? My – my grandmother got it for me; she didn't realize it was items for a girl. And, er, I didn't either." This only caused the three to restart their insane laughter ("More like a dress up kit!" by Sirius). "And Quintin said I have to act like a snobby stuck up and get people to come to the Quidditch match."

"Wait, so, so, you chose Lillers?" Remus asked, stopping his laughter immediately.

"She was all I could think of, all right?" James said defensively.

"Oh, you're going to be hexed into oblivion," Sirius said. "Of all people, Evans? You could've been Remus!"

"No, no!" Remus had widened his eyes. "Sirius, don't give him ideas!"

"Number one, that would be weird, and number two, Remus breaks a lot of rules. You don't end up with eleven detention in a week by being good," James said, looking at the clock. "4:45, I gotta go. Just – just – stay in here, all right?"

As soon as James left the room, Remus, Sirius, and Peter followed.

"Did James seriously think we would miss this?" Sirius asked rhetorically.

James took a deep breath and walked to the middle of the Common Room, which had quieted upon seeing James dressed up in the way he was. Quintin was grinning like a maniac and gave James a thumbs up on his costume.

James tried really hard to not look at Lily when he made his speech. Maybe then she wouldn't recognize him.

"Hi, my name is Lily Evans," James said in a squeaky voice. "I'm a really awesome perfect student who just _needs_ to get all O's on her OWLS, and top grades, even though it's obvious that the devilishly handsome James Potter is going to beat me. Even though I'm friends with greasy Slytherins, you should listen to what I say, because I am good at sucking up to teachers and kissing their bums! Go to the Quidditch match, everyone, and receive more entertainment from yours truly! Oh, but don't come too close to me because I stink like hell from all of that Slytherin stench. If you don't go, don't be surprised to find your dormitory smelling like me!"

James complete his routine with an elegant twirl and a flip of his skirt, then bowed to all the laughs he was getting from the rest of the Common Room; Sirius' barks of laughter were easily heard amongst everyone else.

"POTTER!" Lily shrieked, running to the center of the room.

Apparently James was much easier to recognize that he had originally thought. Maybe it was his stupid round glasses that gave him away.

"Evans, you're not going to kiss me on my brilliant performance, are you?" James asked.

This was probably not the best thing to say at the time.

"Merlin, you're so _infuriating_! You are the worst person I have ever met! How dare you make fun of me and Sev?! We're ten times better people than you'll ever be!"

"I dunno, judging by the room around here, I'd say people see me as a pretty good person."

"ARGH! I'm going to go get McGonagall!"

Before Lily could complete her dignified exit, James yelled out, "That's right, Evans! Go up and kiss some more people's…bums! That's what you do best, right?"

Lily turned around and pointed her wand daringly at James.

James looked worriedly at the wand that was now coming close and closer to his face.

"Ah, Evans, you're not going to be completely innocent then, are you? Man, what _are_ those professors going to say?"

"Can it, Potter!" Lily said, shooting a red curse in James' direction.

James grinned as the curse turned around and knocked Lily down to the ground, putting large puss filled boils all over her body.

"I wasn't going to let you ruin this beautiful face and costume, Evans. Part of the pack."

Lily got up, looking close to tears and stomped out of the room.

"Oh, you made her angry!" Sirius called down to James. "Come on! That was brilliant!"

James beamed and ran up the stairs, giving a high five to Quintin before starting.

"Wickedly daring, James," Quintin complimented.

The four First Years reentered their dormitory, leaving the room conversing about James' brilliant performance.

"That was brilliant," Sirius said again. "So what, the costumes come with defensive spells?"

"Yeah, they're very complicated and don't always work, I didn't know if it would, but I certainly got lucky there."

"Don't you think that may have been a little harsh?" Remus asked.

"No," James said. "She deserved it, and it was accurate."

"For what, though?"

"Lighten up, Remus, it was a joke. Her own problem that she can't take one."

Remus swallowed but didn't say anything else.

Before long, the evening arrived, and later, night, the time when students should be sleeping. In fact, even the four Gryffindor First Years were sleeping.

At some point in the night, late enough for it to be pitch black outside the window of Hogwarts, there was a knock on the door. James was startled awake by the noise, and quietly walked to the door, his wand gripped tightly in his hand as he opened it.

"Evans!" he whispered in surprise. "Your face, er, it's smooth."

Lily glared at James, her eyes red, ignoring the fact James was not wearing a shirt.

"Professor McGonagall wanted me to tell you that you have a detention."

"Of course that's why you'd come knocking at this late hour."

"And just so you know, I'm not going to forget this. So just, you know, watch your back."

"Oh believe me, I will. Honestly, what could an ordinary goody two shoes do to me?"

"And I'd watch your tongue if I were you, Potter."

"As I do, often in the mirror."

Lily paused, "That's a little gross."

"Just a little?"

"Shut it. I'm going to bed. I'm done in this nasty room anyway."

"For the record, Evans, you were never exactly in it."

"Night, _Potter_," Lily said, spitting the 'Potter' in disgust.

"I'll be watching for you," James responded, shutting the door. "Wow, I'm surprised she didn't bewitch the door, that would've been smart."

With that, James crawled back into his bed and went to sleep, his dreams plagued with the worst of pranks Lily would do to him. Of course, this would be forever kept a secret.

**A/N: Now for the responses to the many reviews I received. I thank you all so much for the support, it was these reviews that were like nagging at me saying how many people I'm frustrating by not updating this story. **

**GryffindorBeth: As always, it is awesome to hear from you, and I really hope that this chapter too was worth the wait. **

**Isla Weasley: Yeah, Voldemort and his Death Eaters will be coming soon, I just want to keep at least part of the story nice and light hearted. He's got an awesome debut in this story that's pictured in my head. And Quintin is definitely for real ;) He exists in my head. Anyway, thank you so much for the reviews! **

**PhoenixTears1001: Thanks for the review, and I'm totally going to ignore any sarcasm within it XD This was definitely too long a wait for this chapter. Oh and I'm sorry for not adding you know who yet, it just didn't feel right, but it's coming. I promise.**

**katiek121: Wow, thank you for all your reviews! I really appreciate them! Yeah, I can understand how you could be getting annoyed with the 'Remmy', but it just seemed to fit for me when I was writing. I let the characters write themselves, in fact, I'm pretty sure it's obvious when I'm in the swing of the scene or when I'm not. So the 'Remmy' sort of just finds a way to slip in and I can't help it. And yeah, all the lack of energy was because of the arrival of the full moon. Anyway, thank you for the reviews!**

**LifeIsArt7: Thank you for the review. Uh, this story isn't all from Remus' POV, as you will see later, but it does focus a great deal on it. But anyway, thanks!**

**zzz4730: Thank you for the review! I tried to keep the marauders as in character as possible, but the reason I like preseries is that it gives a bit of freedom since we don't know EXACTLY how they acted. But I really love seeing your reviews, they make me all happy and proud of my writing.**

**TheBoy1004: Thank you for the review!**

**Filly211: Thank you for the review and I apologize for the really really REALLY late update. I feel like a really mean person, but real life got in the way. Damn real life :)**

**middleofsomewhere: Thank you for the review! I hope this is the 'more' you were looking for.**

**xXFadingNightXx: I know, Peter sucks, I'd like him to die in a hole too. But he was once the Marauders' friends, and there has to be a reason that he went bad, so I'm hoping to provide him with a backstory that his actions can be understandable. I don't agree or want to defend him, he's a terrible person, but I feel like he deserves some warranted decisions too. Thank you for your reviews!**

**Devon Martinez: Uh, I guess I'm going to start writing again now ;) Thanks for the review, I'm guessing it was a positive one!**

**Guest: It's okay, I hate Peter too. Everyone hates Peter (okay, 99.99% of the population. I have met some Peter fans, which makes me really worry for the future of this world). Thank you for the review!**

**If you want to, please review, I really, truly appreciate them. If you see any errors, please let me know, and I'll fix them.**


	15. Crowds and Bubbles

**A/N: Hi! I'm not dead! And this story is NOT abandoned. I promised, I'm not going to abandon it, I have a ginormous slideshow written with chapters and exactly where I want it to go. So writers' block is not an option. I'm just going through an extremely difficult time, and then I'm also applying to colleges at this time, and I'm super stressed out. But yeah. I should have a good amount of time to write so I can get these updates back on a regular basis. Probably like once a week. So yeah. And thank you so much for the many reviews and everything (98!), I've been reading them and they were making me feel so guilty for not updating. I know, I said in the beginning I hate authors who don't update and now I'm one of them O_o, but I have literally started making time for me to write, and I even have my story on a flash drive so I can write WHEREVER I am. So that's good, right? And yeah, updates should be coming in once a week, and no more than once every two weeks (at least for the next couple of chapters). Now I'm going to stop talking and let you read, I hope you guys like it, I know I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. **

**Chapter 15: Crowds and Bubbles**

James woke up first the next day, not that it was much of a surprise. It was the day of the first Quidditch game – and, even if it wasn't, he'd still be up. He rubbed his eyes and put on his round glasses. He coughed a couple times before actually getting out of bed.

_Pop_.

It was a soft sound, but, unfortunately, one that James was not accustomed to. He took a deep breath.

_Pop._

James looked up and saw nothing.

"Damn it, Sirius," he muttered to himself. "Stop playing with the magic bubble kit before bedtime."

_Pop. Pop. Pop._

James rolled his eyes and went to wake Sirius. Of course, though, Mr Sirius the Paranoid was up before James could touch him.

"Good morning, James!" Sirius said brightly, jumping out of bed.

"Morning, Sirius. Let's go wake the others."

Sirius did not move. His mouth was open. He looked frozen in time.

"Er…Sirius?" James asked, poking his friend.

_Pop._

"James…?" Sirius asked, looking like he was trying to hold in laughter.

"What, you left the bubbles around again? Yes, I _know_, don't do it again," James said. "Come on, it's time to wake Rems."

Sirius couldn't hold in his laughter any longer. By some miracle, this woke up both Remus and Peter.

James had his hands on his hips. "_What_?"

_Pop_.

"Evans…Evans…" Sirius attempted to say, breathless with laughter.

Peter rubbed his eyes. "Why are you now a grapefruit infused-bubble breathing James?" he asked, looking very confused.

"Excuse me?" James paid close attention to in front of his mouth. "I don't see anything."

_Pop._

"Okay, now this is just—" James gaped at the bubble floating upwards. "No. No, no, no, no, no!"

"Oh Merlin…" Remus mumbled. "I don't think that's such a good thing for your image."

"But we have to go to the Quidditch game!" James exclaimed, bubble floating out of his mouth. "Everyone's gonna be staring at me!"

"Like they wouldn't be beforehand?" Sirius asked.

"Shut up! We have to find a cure," James said, looking directly at Remus.

Remus did not like this look.

"Yes?" He asked politely.

"What's the counter?"

"Er, I – I don't know."

"Wasn't there something like Finite Incantatem?" Peter asked.

"That doesn't exist," Sirius said, swatting his hand.

"Wait," Remus said. "I think the universal counter-curse is Finite Incantatem."

James snapped his fingers at Remus, "Yeah, I think that's what Minnie used on Sirius when you froze him. And what we used to reverse Pom Pom's bed force-field thing."

"T-that's what I said," Peter said quietly.

Sirius stuck his wand in front of James' face.

"Wait, I don't want you doi—" James started.

It was too late.

"_Sirius_!" Remus hissed. "Those weren't even the right words!"

"Wait, the words weren't Chantera Rhymosus Melodina?" Sirius asked.

James was livid.

"Sirius! Are you serious? That wasn't fair, oh look at my hair!"

Peter was looking between James and Sirius, "Wait, so you made him a singing, bubble-breathing James?"

"Where did you even learn that spell?" Remus wondered.

Sirius was laughing. "Oh my – this is brilliant! You know, maybe I could get you to do commentary for the Quidditch game and everyone could listen to you singing and–"

Remus stepped up and pointed his wand at James. "Finite Incantatem," said Remus clearly.

The zap of light shot out of Remus' wand and hit him.

"Huh?" Remus was, needless to say, baffled.

Peter, on the other hand, was very frustrated with the lack of attention his roommates were giving him so started to read the box of James' prank kit.

"Why didn't it work? It makes me wanna…pork…"

Sirius was way to amused to be helping. "Pork? Really?"

"Shut up, you silly pup," James sang, looking annoyed as bubbles flew out of his mouth.

"And you still can't sing on key!" Sirius exclaimed. "Blimey, this is gonna be awesome."

"There is nothing awesome about this, none of this can be taken in bliss!"

"Honestly, Sirius, did you have to choose a spell that made James rhyme _and_ sing?" Remus asked.

"Guys?" Peter said timidly. "I found something."

Remus turned to Peter. "What? A cure?"

"Tell us, please! This whole thing's a disease!"

Peter shook his head. Sirius looked grateful. The gentle popping of bubbles could be heard from above.

"Well," Peter said, once he saw everybody watching. It was nice to have the attention on him…and not because he peed in his pants. "If you read the fine print, there are some side effects to the guise kit. For one, yes it deflects spells and turns them into pussy ones, but it also holds the spell that would've been used prior and has it come into effect within twelve hours."

"Gimme that, you slow rat!" James exclaimed, snatching the box, leaving Peter slightly startled.

Remus took the box from James, knowing that James would turn it into some ridiculous rhyme with his stupid opera voice and the stupid pink bubbles would keep popping. It was a nightmare. He cursed Sirius mentally.

"Holds spell in place…oh Merlin!" Remus exclaimed. "Finite Incantatem has no effect as a built-in payback for the prankster."

"What?" James sang. "_WHAT_?!" He repeated for some unknown – actually, known – reason.

Sirius was rubbing his hands in delight. "For how long?"

"Another twelve hours," Remus replied promptly.

James looked mutinous.

Peter was proud of his accomplishment. He found the reason that James was speaking in unnecessary rhymes.

"But there has to be a countercurse specific to the dumb rhyming and singing curse that's not _finite incantatem_," Remus pointed out reasonably, slightly shaken by James' glare.

"Oh don't worry, there is," Sirius said, and James gave a sigh of relief. "I'm just kidding, you nut."

"_Damn it_!" James cursed. "I wish you'd just fall down a pit!"

Peter popped the bubbles.

"Oh come on, James, don't be a buzzkill like l'il Remmy."

"Excuse me?" the boy in question said, looking annoyed.

James sighed.

"I'll take that as a yes, then," Sirius said.

"Don't really have much of a choice," James muttered, before groaning. "And I'm starting to hate this voice."

"We all are," Remus said sourly.

"It's funny, though," Sirius said, feeling the need to add his rather unnecessary input.

"Shut up, Sirius, no one cares what you think," Remus spoke for every unhappy human being in the room listening to James singing.

Peter looked at Sirius. "I don't know why you won't just take off the curse."

"The _Quidditch _Match, Peter," Sirius replied, looking annoyed. "Jamesey here did promise that he would provide entertainment for the young spectators."

"I had my own plans," James attempted rapping. "So keep quiet, you old man."

Sirius looked way to happy about that insult. "See, I'm _so _much more mature than you."

Both Remus and Peter had to scoff at that. If there was one thing Sirius was not, it was mature.

"Guys?" Peter asked. "Don't you think it's time to head over to the Great Hall?"

James, as much as he would later deny this to be true, started to blush maniacally.

"Why, what's this?" Remus asked, looking amused. "Is the wonderful James Potter shy of being the only one singing in the Great Hall? You didn't mind singing the school song by yourself."

"Sirius was singing with me," James mumbled – well, if you could call it mumbling. He would have been mumbling if he wasn't busy sounding like a banshee. "And sometimes that's the key."

"Uh uh uh," Sirius said, grinning. "This is your chance to shine. And my chance to be bowed to by every single student here when they realize it was I, the amazing Sirius, who cast a spell on the measly James Potter."

"If he's so measly, then why would people be impressed over this 'feat'?" Remus asked reasonably.

Peter was busy rubbing his stomach. He was getting rather hungry. James, on the other hand, looked pleased because, apparently, Remus had voiced his thoughts.

Sirius looked simply annoyed with Remus. "Figure of speech."

"So, wait, does that mean that James is actually quite grand?" Remus asked, his eyes glittering.

James was busy sing-laughing with bubbles floating out of his mouth.

"And this is normally the point where I tell you to shut up," Sirius said, not looking nearly as amused as Remus and James.

"But you love me too much, so therefore, this time is an exception since you are not telling me to shut my mouth."

Eventually, after way too much time was wasted with Sirius and Remus bickering – more like James and Sirius bickering, seeing as Remus was speaking on behalf of James, the four First Years decided to go to the Great Hall and get food. Upon arrival, James caught sight of Lily.

James' eyes expression turned into a glare as he looked at the redhead. His nose was scrunched for some unexplainable reason. To be blunt, Remus did not like the look James was giving her. Therefore, he attempted to give James a warning glance.

Of course, though, this did not work, because James went ahead and stomped right over to Lily Evans. Sirius, Remus, and Peter were quick to follow.

"Lily Evans, the girl from the heavens," James sang, bubbles floating out of his mouth, glaring.

Lily, who was sitting with her friends looked startled.

"Lily," Marlene said, looking at James. "It's Potter. Again. Make him go away."

James looked aghast at Marlene's obvious lack of tact. He was standing right in front of her, and she was acting like he wasn't there.

"Oh, hello Potter," Lily said, turning around and smiling sweetly. "How are you this fine morning?"

"There are bubbles floating out of my nuzzle!" James sang.

Lily looked a little confused. "Nuzzle? What the hell do you mean by 'nuzzle'?"

"I don't know, your spell is making me low. And to make things worse, Sirius hit me with a second curse!"

Lily felt disgusted and glared at Sirius. "You had to make him sing too? Merlin, I hate the both of you. The bubbles was my funny cur—I thought it didn't work?"

"Prank kit installed with karma," Remus explained.

Lily looked understandably at Remus, and then promptly returned to glaring at the four stupid boys of her house.

Of course, Severus did not seem too fond of the conversation occurring near his best friend, so took it upon himself to leave his table and join the conversation, much to the distaste of his other housemates.

"What is happening here? Go away, guys, can't you see you're making her upset? Or are you blind to see that?" Severus all but shouted, quickly attracting much of the attention of the Great Hall.

Sirius knew what was going to happen, and did his best to stop James from opening his big, bubbly filled mouth.

"Oh Snivellus, you think you're hilarious, but really, you're just a wuss."

Sirius failed and promptly face-palmed.

Severus stared at James. "That was terrible, really."

James blushed, and tried to rectify his statement. "You're not brave at all, you just show up on call and let us have a ball."

Peter was feeling so bad for James that he could feel a lump in his throat as the entire Great Hall started to laugh _at _James.

Lily merely smirked. "C'mon Sev, let's go do something else, save Potter here from his embarrassment."

Severus pouted, but followed.

James wasn't sure what to feel. He wasn't used to the entire Hall laughing _at_ him, some were even popping the rosy bubbles that were floating in the air.

"Shut up!" Remus yelled.

It was of no use. Sirius was trying to hold back chuckles.

"Oh, you shut up. This is all your fault," Remus snapped at Sirius. "C'mon James, let's get outta here."

"Yeah," Peter said.

James nodded, careful not to speak anymore. However, no sooner than they had left the Great Hall, they bumped into Quintin, who was already changed into his red and gold Quidditch uniform.

"Why are you changed already?" Sirius asked, looking the older boy up and down. "The game doesn't start for half an hour. And when did you eat?"

"I didn't," Quinitin said, looking paler by the second. "I wish I did, but I got so nervous that I forgot and then I had this nightmare where I failed the team because I got sick and I really really really wanted to play the game, so when I woke up, I was eager to simply have the chance to play the game. So I quickly changed, and then realized that my legs were cramping and I didn't know why so I made an ice bath, which was also stupid since I could've used a spell but I was just _so_ nervous, and then I lost track of time and thought I was running super late so I ran out to the field, ready to play, but then the game hadn't _actually_ started, and then my stomach grumbled, and I was like, 'damn, I didn't eat.' And then I realized the gravity of that proclamation, so I came rushing here, and now my legs are cramping again and the ice spell isn't helpful, I just tired myself out, but if I eat I'm sure I'll feel better, I mean, I'll have to, and—"

"—Slow down! It's okay!" Remus interrupted.

"Yeah, don't worry, you'll be fine," Sirius said.

"And you're the best flier in the world," Peter added excitedly.

James remained silent, for what felt like the first time in history.

Quintin took a breath. "Yeah, you guys are right. Thanks James, S—wait, James? You didn't even say 'hi'."

James widened his eyes and waved.

"Speak to me! Oh Merlin, are you super nervous too? Oh no, I'm going to let the whole school down, even you think so—"

"I don't think that!" James sang, while internally whacking his head against an imaginary wall Remus-style. "But you look silly in that hat."

The bubbles popped near Quintin's open mouth and arms.

"Oh, you're right! All the Gryffindor's will be laughing at the hat and then the team will be distracted and we'll _lose_, and it'll all be _my_ fault!"

"Oh Merlin," Remus muttered under his breath so only Sirius could hear. "Surely he can't get this nervous before _every _game."

Sirius snorted.

"It won't be your fault if you lose, only if someone poos," James sang, more bubbles popping on Quintin.

Before Quintin could start crying, Peter stepped in.

"What James is trying to sing – er, say – is that you'll be great and Gryffindor will win!"

And the four ran off before they could here anything else Quintin had to say by getting good seat at the Quidditch game.

* * *

><p>"Please, Professor, it'll be such fun to have a First Year commentate the first game instead of me," some random Third Year Ravenclaw was begging. "It'll help get the entire year more excited to see someone they know."<p>

McGonagall sighed, looking tired at this half-hour argument, "Fine, just pick. I want to watch the game."

"Yes!" The student said, before leaning into the microphone. "James Potter! Professor McGonagall has just given me permission to let you commentate the game!"

McGonagall didn't seem to pleased with the selection, but for some reason was somewhat relieved that it wasn't Sirius.

James' face, on the other hand, glowed Crimson. He swore he could hear Snape laughing.

"What? Oh you mutt!"

Sirius bit his lip to keep from laughing. James glared.

"I'll do it, okay! But only to keep you at bay, and so they can play."

James hustled over to the podium.

"This'll be such fun," Sirius whispered to Remus, whilst Peter watched James bolt.

"Why is he singing opera in English, rhyming, and blowing bubbles all at once?" McGonagall asked the Third Year, trying to make sense of the whole conversation. "What spell was put on him?"

"Probably a bubble-singing-rhyming combo spell, Professor."

McGonagall glared mutinously at the boy, who put his hands up. "I'll just go to my audience spot now."

McGonagall nodded, her lips tight.

"'Sup, McG," James said. "Huh, today you don't smell like pee."

McGonagall groaned, not realizing this statement was projected to all of the school.

"Detention, Potter."

James couldn't help but feel smug in the mere imagined image of the infuriated look on Sirius' face. Oh, he could actually have a lot of fun with this! Who cares about being laughed at in front of the whole school?

"Oh, I'm so sorry, but it isn't my fault, Minnie," James sang both off-key and proudly. "I was cast with a curse, and yet I still don't need a nurse, and you're still a grumpy old horse."

McGonagall was not pleased. "Three detentions, Potter. Finite Incantatem."

The counter bounced off of James.

"And the spell doesn't come off," James continued. "Sometimes, it makes me scoff!"

"Is this some silly prank, Mr Potter."

"It's supposed to be karma, but really, I feel like I've taken a trip to Burma."

"Please, can we start the game?!" Kaitlin yelled from down below, and was even backed up by a few of the Slytherin opponents.

McGonagall pinched her nose. "Fine, fine, just start, Mr Potter."

James gave a cheeky wink as Madam Hooch stepped onto the field.

"Let the game begin!"

The players took off flying.

James took a deep breath. "There go the fliers, wow, these are some great players. Chase is flying with the quaffle, being chased," a 'hah' could be heard up from the sky. "by some Slytherin who's hardly docile…why am I even commentating, when I don't know the names I am saying? He passes to Fergis, who swiftly passes to Rufus – oh, there's a Slytherin, who takes the ball in. The dude is practically running, at least he doesn't have to smell what I'm smelling—"

"Potter!"

"Sorry, Professor McGonagall, it's hard to think of rhymes for all. Don't want to sound ridiculous, you see, just want to give an honest interpretation of the flying bees.

"And the dude passed to another dude, who doesn't seem to be much of a prude, and shoots – the quaffle hits Brown's boot! Woo! Go you! Wow, Lee seems to be playing beater by himself, c'mon Quintin, don't live Lee on his own on the shelf!"

The crowd was torn between cheering and laughing at how the commentary was sounding – let alone looking. It looked like some Muggle factory where, instead of blowing smoke, it was blowing pink bubbles. McGonagall wasn't looking too pleased with the view.

"My, the boy's looking bigger, _what has _he been eating with such vigor?"

"Potter, focus!"

"Sorry ma'am, I'm trying, I really am—"

McGonagall grabbed the microphone, "And Phillips has just scored, avoiding Stebbin's sharp skills—"

"Gimme the microphone," James said, snatching it back. "Unless you'd rather be my clone, my sweet rhyming blown clone. And what's that, Winters seems to have caught sight of the mutt. He's flying towards something, the Slytherin Seeker is acting like his left wing. And let's not forget that bludger, Lee has just whacked that nutter, straight at Quintin Blake, who's as still as someone making cake. Oh Merlin, hit it, Quintin! Is he sleeping? Start flying!"

In all this chaos, the score had become 60-30, Slytherin.

"The bludger has just hit Quintin, and he's falling in – Oh Merlin! Help him!"

While James was near tears, Trevor quit the search for the Snitch and dived under his captain, and failing to keep the boy on his broomstick. Trevor dives to the ground where Quintin is now lying. Trevor started yelling,

"We concede! We concede!"

This yelling was hardly necessary as the Slytherin Seeker had grabbed the Snitch and won the game.

James was sobbing, McGonagall torn between running to Quintin or comforting James, whose crying in some opera rhymes with bubbles was not nearly his most attractive moment.

* * *

><p>"This is all my fault, that the game came to a halt," James said, standing near Quintin's bed.<p>

James had been put in a mask, so the bubbles stay near his mouth. His voice was starting to sound muffled.

"It's not your fault," Peter said loyally. "I mean, yeah, you could've let the bubbles pop _not_ on Quintin's face, or you could've not worn that crime kit, or at least have read the fine print before you put something magical upon you, or simply not have spoken in front of Quintin, or even asked him—"

Needless to say, this speech did not provide any comfort to James, who started to wail.

"James, stop wailing, this is so not good for your image," Sirius said. "How were you supposed to know he had a deathly allergy to grapefruit?"

"Actually," Peter said, smug that he remembered something. "I think Quintin mentioned it where he was talking about Lee, when he was chasing him with a grapefruit or something."

"You're right, I do remember that!"

"Oh, don't worry about it James," Remus said. "You didn't even realize they were grapefruit bubbles. It's not like you hexed yourself."

James looked up. "You're right! It's all because of Evan's fight."

"Yeah, Remmy is right!" Sirius added, his eyes glistening. "We're going to get her back."

"Yeah!" Peter added.

Remus just realized what he had caused.

"No, no, I'm sure she didn't know or a—"

"—So you're saying she's stupid?" Sirius asked bluntly.

"No, of course not."

"Then you're saying that she knew."

"No! But, you didn't know, and nor did I, or—"

"No one said we weren't stupid. You call us stupid all the time."

Remus couldn't argue with that logic.

"Fine. So maybe this is all her fault. But that doesn't mean—"

"Yes it _does_, Remmy!" Sirius snapped.

"Haven't you seen what revenge and karma has led to?"

"Actually," James stepped in. "the bubbles are the fault of Evans. I know you don't want to prank her, but at least we should hit her with some pans. Because these bubbles have nothing to do with mubbles, nor any revenge, so Quintin we must avenge."

The rhyme barely made sense, but the meaning was clear. Remus had lost the argument and their next victim of their prank was going to be Lily Evans.

When the four went back to their Common Room, they were greeted by numerous Gryffindors praising James' commentary, who wasn't responding vocally to the cheers.

"Yeah, he's my friend! I cast the charm!" Sirius was yelling.

"I can't believe you told Professor McGonagall off like that!"

"I didn't even think it was possible to commentate a whole match in rhymes!"

"I cast the charm!" Sirius called again.

"Why aren't any of you worried about Quintin?" Peter wondered.

Some random Fourth Year he didn't know responded, "Madam Pomfrey will take care of it. I mean, people are always getting injured when they play Quidditch anyway, so it doesn't matter."

"Wow."

"Which is why I think Quidditch is not the best thing there is," Remus muttered.

Peter giggled.

* * *

><p><strong>DETENTION CONTEST: 1978 GRYFFINDOR WIZARDS<strong>

**James Potter: X X X 15**

**Sirius Black: X 15**

**Remus Lupin: X 11**

**Peter Pettigrew: X 5**

"Oh, Jamesy, you're always trying to steal my thunder. But I'll get you next time!" Sirius shouted, gripping the pillow tightly in his hands.

"In your dreams, now, let's come up with some schemes!"

At least there was only one more hour Remus would have to deal with of James' terrible rhymes and singing.

**A/N: So? What did you think? Liked it? Kinda worth the wait? ;) It was so much fun to make James speak in rhymes - kind of tiring at times, but I enjoyed it. Also, in Chapter 12 (13 here), The Quidditch Team, when Quintin is talking about Lee Lee and how you shouldn't make fun of him, he does mention that he has an allergy to grapefruit, presumably anaphylaxis. If you don't know what that is, your body has a histamine overload and treats certain harmless foods like poison, which leads to the body going into a physical shock, which can be fatal. I'm actually helping my friend with this charity (American Research Foundation for Nut Allergies) which is working with a potential cure for peanut and nut allergies - there is a process developed which is merely lacking money to be tested. You should check out the site!**

**Now responses!**

**katiek121: Thank you! I really liked the Quidditch part too.**

**CrazyFM: Yeah, totally! I want to help Peter have fun with Quidditch. I actually have some plans for him.**

**5423789: Thank you, that actually means so much. I've really been working hard on characterizing the Marauders and keeping them as original as possible, while trying to stick to Canon. Also, please, if any of you are super frustrated with my lack of updating, check out this chick's stories! She's AWESOME, and is already on Year 5 of the Marauders. Her series is amazing!**

**Persadia: Yeah, those definitely were some crazy times. Thanks!**

**Insane-Bookworm-4ever: Yes, I do remember you. Hi!**

**xxCallMeAmyxx: Yes, I had to add the Hippogriff part. Meta knowledge is important!**

**LoneTraveler: Thank you so much for such a meaningful review. Honestly, it means so much. And yes, I promise to keep writing it. It won't be done in the next year, by any means, but I want to write a nice story, no matter how long it will take. Actually, it's funny, I really detest Peter, but I'm really enjoying writing him. I love looking deep into his character and try to see why the heck would he betray such wonderful friends.**

**RavenclawHermioneG: I updated...**

**Ginny-Witha-J: I'm still writing and I updated. I'm glad you like it, I love Remus too :)**

**NeonBlackRoseRevived: Okay. I updated.**

**Morgan Lovegood: Thank you!**

**Madison Futch: Well, it's not abandoned. But thanks for reading!**

**Thank you so much for reading my story and bearing with me! And thanks, even if you're reading the story and not reviewing. I love you too. And I even love those of you who aren't reading the story or this love note. Kk, see you next week!**

**PREVIEW:**

**At this moment, James and Peter burst through the door.**

**"Oh Merlin!" Peter exclaimed.**

**"I told you this would happen if we left them unattended."**

**"How many dungbombs did you even let off?" James asked, directing the question at Sirius.**

**"I only let off three. Remus threw around sixteen other ones, setting them all off because he was upset. And now I have no more left."**


	16. Dungbombs and Failures

**A/N: Oho! An update on my day! YAYAYAYAY! And guess what, another landmark has been hit! 100 reviews! I wanted to take a moment and say thank you so much to everyone who has read and reviewed this story, it means so much! And it was so great to see people read the last chapter after I updated. It meant so much! So thank you, thank you, thank you. I love you all :)**

**Now, without further ado, the next chapter, which I spent a lot of time on. It's a nice, long, kind-of filler chapter with a time skip (over 8400 words!). So enjoy!**

**Oh, before I go there, I wanted to answer Morgan Lovegood's review, since it might be something other readers are wondering. The 'X's on the detention contest are _supposed _to be a strikethrough font, but unfortunately, FF doesn't have it. Because the Marauders don't have a spell to automatically update their detention sheet, they are simply scribbling out the past numbers and adding the new number of detentions they have. Does that make sense?**

**NOW, the next chapter!**

**Chapter 16: Dungbombs and Failures**

_Dear Mum and Dad,_

_I can't believe just how fun the past two months at Hogwarts have been. I've made so many amazing friends, I'm in Gryffindor, which is a super cool house, and I'm even one of the four most popular students to ever walk Hogwarts grounds. People know my name, and they don't make fun of me every second – in fact, I think some of them even respect me a little bit. There was even this one time when James said, "Good job" to me when I remembered where a painting was! They've even forgotten about my little accident! It's like we all have our own parts in the group. _

_James and Sirius are like one entity, but Sirius is quicker on his feet, while James knows where to draw the line. Remus is always trying to keep them from pulling horrendous pranks and keep them grounded – of course, he often fails miserably, but he tries. And then there's me, I'm kind of observant, and I'm good at reading people, and remembering specific things about people. I didn't even know I had this talent! I wouldn't have known if I hadn't met my new friends. I know, there could be more important jobs in our group, but at least I have a job. _

_I do kind of feel bad for how sick Remus' mother is – I didn't realize anyone could be so ill. And I remember that he said his favourite uncle also recently passed away. But he didn't seem too torn up about it, so I guess we stopped worrying about how he was feeling._

_I know you guys told me to behave at Hogwarts, and that I'm here for education, but I'm just so happy to have friends. That's why I'm helping with the pranks. I'm so glad you haven't sent me a Howler or anything, because that would be really embarrassing, and then what if I got kicked out of the group because of it? It's just such a great feeling to be liked. And besides, I'm not all that amazing at school anyway. Usually I'm just asking Remus and James for help. Not Sirius so much. I guess I don't really feel that comfortable around him._

_At least I've become better at flying. The Quidditch captain, Quintin –the really talkative boy I told you about with the allergy – has been giving us lessons. I mean, I was never terrible, but at least now I'm not quite so afraid of heights. James, though, James is a natural. He's amazing! He's probably going to be the next Quidditch God or something, I am so fortunate to be friends with him. The cooler he is, the better it is for me, I think. Because then more people start talking to me. Sirius is decent, but he's not superstar material or anything, and Remus still really doesn't want to be there._

_I also promised to keep you posted on our prank on that really stubborn redhead girl. You know, she's kind of pretty, but Merlin, is she annoying! She's always trying to get into our business. But we haven't been able to successfully avenge Quintin with a prank on Evans yet. I don't know what's up. But we're going to put together the best plan ever, even Remus is getting frustrated with their inability to prank her, you know._

_You know, I originally thought he was going to be my best friend, but the person who's the nicest to me is James. Maybe I could get him to meet you over the winter. He's really nice. He always tells people not to make fun of me. Sometimes he teases me, but it's okay, because he's definitely the nicest out of everyone._

_I'm rambling a bit, I just have so much to say! Sometimes I don't feel comfortable telling this stuff to my friends, or saying too much to my friends, because I don't want them to think I'm strange or too girly and then kick me out of the group._

_I can't wait to see you!_

_Love,_

_Peter Pettigrew_

Peter licked the adhesive part of the envelope and scrunched his nose. It tasted gross, as usual. He gave the letter to a random school owl, and soon it was off. He grinned and twirled, he loved writing to his family.

"Hurry up, Pete!" James called. "I'm not going to wait here all year watching you dance!"

Peter started to blush. "Sorry, James, I'm done now."

"Oh, you better be. I don't know what we were thinking, leaving Sirius to wake up Rems on his own! He's probably destroyed our entire room, and then we're going to have to share with _Evans_ or something."

Peter laughed, "We're not going to share with Evans. McGona – Minnie – is not that cruel."

"But we gotta hurry. Or the whole place is going to stink like dungbombs or something, you know, because Sirius isn't all that creative, c'mon!"

So the two started to hurry back to the Common Room.

"What time is it, Pete?"

"7:30."

"Oh Merlin, I hope Sirius has Remus up, otherwise we're not going to have breakfast. Again. And you know how cranky someone gets when they're on an empty stomach."

"You mean you, right?"

"Shut it, Pete."

* * *

><p>"But why dungbombs?" Remus was whining.<p>

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I told you, you weren't waking up and desperate times call for desperate measures."

"But dungbombs! Now the whole room is going to stink and there's nothing we can do about it."

Sirius wrinkled his nose. "You're right, this room is going to stink."

"Oh, this is all your fault."

"Really?" Sirius asked. "We're back to this again. It's _your_ fault because you failed to wake up and then it led to desperate times."

"But why dungbombs?"

"Because, as I told you—"

"—Oh shut up, I don't need to hear it. I'm just saying there were countless other ways you could've chose to wake me up. Like a ice cold bucket of water, for one."

Sirius blinked. "I did. Did you not notice that you're soaking?"

"Fine, but flipping the mattress?"

"The pee stain is facing up, l'il Remmy."

"_Don't_ call me that!"

"Give it up, Remus. That's going to be your name forever."

"Oh…" Remus stomped his feet around childishly. "I don't like it."

Sirius laughed. "I know you don't."

At this moment, James and Peter burst through the door.

"Oh Merlin!" Peter exclaimed.

"I told you this would happen if we left them unattended," James now turned his attention to Sirius. "How many dungbombs did you even let off?"

"I only let off three. Remus threw around sixteen other ones, setting them all off because he was upset. And now I have no more left."

"At least something good came out of it," Remus muttered.

"Oi, this is all your fault. Now we have no more to use on Evans!"

"I told you, it's entirely _your_ fault. You set three off in the first place! And that dungbomb plan would've never worked."

James groaned. "Nineteen dungbombs, all going off in one room? What did I do to deserve this? I only went with Peter so he could send a letter to his parents!"

"It's all Remus' fault."

"No, it's all Sirius' fault."

"Remus!"

"Sirius!"

"Hey, hey, hey!" James shouted. "Just forget it, okay? We're just going to have to deal with smelling like dungbombs for the rest of the year. How bad can it be?" He turned to Sirius. "And why aren't you ready? Go get ready, I refuse to miss breakfast before we go to Defense Against the Dark Arts. And hurry up, will you? So Rems can get in there after?"

"Yeah, Sirius," Remus added, putting his hands on his hips.

Sirius pouted.

"And you, Remus, go get changed, and hurry up with it. _Sixteen_ dungbombs? The hell were you thinking?"

"Hah!" Sirius interjected immaturely before resuming his stomping journey to the bathroom.

Remus scowled and closed his bed curtains with great force, causing the curtains to fall down.

"Oh, just perfect," Remus moaned.

Peter was looking rather uncomfortable. "Now we have to get a professor up here to help us fix that bloody curtain, and they're just going to think we smell like dung."

James rolled his eyes. "Just go get changed in my bed—"

Remus snorted.

"—And then get into the bathroom. I'll try to get the curtain up."

Remus rolled his eyes and went to James' bed, being certain to close the curtains as gently as he could.

James shook his head at Peter. "Why did we think we could leave them without supervision for any minutes at all?"

"I heard that!" Remus exclaimed.

"Just get changed."

"Okay."

* * *

><p>"Why did I say that we should wait for Sirius?" James said, as the four started to rush down the corridor at 8:57.<p>

"You actually didn't," Remus pointed out. "You were trying to single-handedly fix that horrendous smell in our dorm rooms, and after said that we ought to wait for 'Rems' after he's done because otherwise people will ask questions and obviously suspect that we let off nineteen dungbombs in our dorm."

"Yeah, yeah, same thing."

James, Sirius, and Peter were running hard, and this time, Remus was certain to act like this wasn't a breeze for him either. He actually thought that he had gotten better at this whole hide-the-Werewolf-from-his-friends-so-that-his-friends-remain-his-friends thing.

Of course, though, since it was just going to be that kind of day for them, the four bumped into Peeves.

"Potty Wee Potter…Blackity Blackity Black…Loony Loopy Lupin…and Pet a Pettigrew," Peeves started to sing in that wonderful tune. In fact, Sirius started to sing the words alongside.

"Oh, Peevsie," Sirius said, smiling. "You're so predictable."

"Oi, shut it, Sirius, Peeves," James said. "We really have to get to class. It was great talking to you."

"Aw…" Peeves said, a playful pout forming on his face before he turned invisible and grabbed James' nose.

Sirius shouted with Peeves, "GOT YOUR CONK!"

James glared at Sirius, since he had no clue where Peeves was so he could accurately glare at him.

"Okay, so now he probably flew away so we can—"

"GOT YOUR CONK!" Peeves yelled again, grabbing Sirius' nose.

"Hey!"

Peeves made himself visible again.

"Oh, do I smell dungbombs?"

Peter wanted to join in with the fun, so despite the other three's hard glares, he said, "Yeah!"

Peeves looked as if Christmas had come early, reached into his ghostly pockets and set off one tiny dungbomb next to the boys. The four stared at the dungbomb, unsure of what to do. It exploded, and in it was the most awful stench the boys had ever smelled.

"HAHA! GOT YOU, LITTLE FIRST YEARS!" Peeves stuck out his tongue as he flew away.

"Really?!" Remus exclaimed. "One more dungbomb?! Why?"

"Probably for a comical exit," Peter responded, and then, at his friend's deadpan stares. "You know, because we already smell terrible, so then one—"

"—It was a rhetorical comment!" Remus all but screamed.

"Oh."

"Guys, we have to go to class, we're already super late as it is," James said, starting to get a bit concerned. "Now Professor Aragon is going to do something horrible to us if we're even one minute late! Remember last week?"

"Oh no!" Remus started hitting his head against the wall. "Oh, this is all your fault."

"Uh uh uh," Sirius said, grabbing Remus before he could do any permanent damage. "I'm not the one who set off sixteen dungbombs."

"Yeah, I'm not the one who tempted Peeves to let off that tiny, acrid dungbomb!"

"Guys, class!" James ordered.

Sirius sighed. "Fine. I guess that's the one class we shouldn't be late for."

Peter glanced at his watch and grimaced. Oh, they were so going to get humiliated by Professor Aragon.

When they arrived at the classroom, the door was locked.

"Oh no," Remus muttered. "This is so not cool."

"D'you think he'll notice when we try to knock the door open?" Sirius asked.

"Hmm…let me think—" Remus mocked sarcastically, but before he could say much of anything, James, Sirius, and Peter had all started trying to knock the door over.

"What are you doing?" he hissed. "Oh, stop that! STOP IT!"

Of course, at this very moment, Professor Aragon had opened the door, the three boys fell down, and Remus was caught in a very compromising position. Because he had been waving his arms so animatedly in his frustration, it looked as if—

"Why did you push your friends, Mr Lupin?"

"I-I didn't push my friends!" Remus exclaimed.

"Ten points from Gryffindor for lying."

"W-what? But I'm not lying!"

"Another five points for backtalk."

"Oh this is so stupid," Remus muttered. "This entire situation after you showed up is just stupid—"

"—Another ten points."

"Shut up, Remus," Sirius said, using Remus' robe to pull himself up, much to the chagrin of the boy in question.

"Get into the classroom. Front, and stand there. I thought you learned the lesson from last week," Professor Aragon said sternly.

The four boys shamefully walked into the classroom, although James interrupted the homogeneity by glaring at Lily, who was looking far too pleased with this dire situation.

"Hands up. Today, we were learning about the following spell. It's called the Smokescreen spell. It has a slight smell of dungbombs," Remus groaned when he heard this. "And it is perfect for when you have to make a quick getaway."

"Oh," Sirius said, and James grinned. "So you want us to put up the spell…"

"…And then have us make a quick getaway?" James finished.

Professor Aragon merely smiled. "No. I'm going to ask that you stay where you are while I demonstrate the spell on you four." He turned to face the rest of the class, when Peter came to the following serious realization.

"We're stuck."

"What?" Remus was not happy at all.

The four boys started to squirm, realized how stupid they looked, stayed still, and accepted their new fate.

"This is all your fault," Remus whispered.

"No, it's not!" Sirius whispered harshly.

"Yes it is!" Remus exclaimed.

"Mr Lupin, detention!"

"What?" Sirius was astonished. "I can be bad too! Give me a detention!"

"No, me!" James contradicted.

"I can make your life terrible too, so I should get a detention," Peter added.

"Stop begging for detentions!" Remus was getting a bit hysterical. It didn't help that he was stressed out about being stuck to the floor and was unsure what the smokescreen would feel like when it touched him, now his friends were getting onto his very last nerve.

"All of you!" Professor Aragon raised his voice. "Thirty points from Gryffindor."

The Gryffindors in the class groaned. They would need to answer a million questions correctly in order to earn back the points their peers were losing.

"Sorry, Professor," Remus said, looking down. "But really, we didn't even mean to be late, there was just some problems in our—"

"—Your personal problems do not concern me, Mr Lupin," Professor Aragon said, starting to feel a little annoyed himself. "Now class, the wand motion is simple—swish and poke. Yes, and at this rhythm too. This spell can easily backfire, or come off too aggressively, which can cause your wand to explode. But don't worry, I don't think you are strong enough for that to happen, but it can smell a little too strong if you're not careful. But remember, swish and poke."

The class, aside from the four boys at the front of the room, started to 'swish and poke.' It actually looked a little concerning – as if the entire class was a gang or something. They seemed almost brainwashed.

"Very good. And once you correctly get the wand movement, we say 'Fumo.' It kind of sounds like 'Lumos,' but without the 's'. Just say 'Fumo,' class, no wands, we don't want to seriously maim the boys in front of us."

The class chorused, "Fumo."

"Fabulous!" Professor Aragon said, clasping his hands together. "Now I want you to watch me cast the spell very closely." The Professor brought his wand to the ready and aimed it towards the four troublemakers – Peter was looking quite pale, while Remus appeared to be silently cursing everybody and everything in the room. "Wand at the ready, and now I'm starting to think about clouds. Yes, rainy clouds, and a bit about the necessity of the clouds, to help me in some way. So I'm thinking about the most important clouds, and telling myself that I will not be alive had there not been clouds. Now I shall do the appropriate wand movement, and chant, 'Fumo'!"

"My eyes, my hair!" Sirius was wailing, looking heartbroken.

James looked just about done, while Peter was inspecting the smoke.

"Why, Merlin, why?" Remus was looking up in the sky, coughing and splurging. "So many dungbombs."

The class, on the other hand, burst into applause, with loud cheers James swore were coming from Lily. How he hated that girl! And all of her little do-gooder friends, how could they stand so much Slytherin? Girls…

But quite soon, the smokescreen was over, and Professor Aragon freed the boys.

"Finally!" Sirius said, celebrating the movement of his legs with his happy dance.

"Not so fast, Mr Black," Professor Aragon said, leading for a pouting Sirius. "I want you boys to stand by the teacher's desk, put your arms through your legs, and then hold your ears. It's called the 'chicken' position."

"Oh, you're kidding!" Remus was not happy about this at all. "We're going to look totally ridiculous…Sirius…"

Sirius gave a somewhat nervous smile before walking back to the teacher's desk.

"I know, I know, this is all my fault – no, it's actually yours."

"Oh, you're so darn wrong," Remus said.

The four boys, accepting the terribleness of their mistake to be late, got down into the 'chicken' position. They looked so ridiculous, and it was actually quite painful. Professor Aragon, on the other hand, took this opportunity to go to his desk and begin to grade some papers.

"Oh, what smells?"

Of course, Aragon simply had to say this loud enough for the entire class to hear, who _obviously_ didn't have anything better to do than to watch the boys humiliate themselves.

"Not us!" Peter said helpfully, before turning to his friends. "See, I didn't reveal the secret."

If Remus could start hitting his head against the wall, he would.

"I didn't think I put that much of a dungbomb stench into the spell," Professor Aragon continued. "Merlin, do you boys shower?"

"No, not really," Peter answered. "See, I'm getting good at this!"

If looks could kill, Peter would be dead three times over.

"Of course we shower!" Sirius exclaimed. "We shower all the time! In fact, that's part of the reason we were late, because I shower!"

"I thought you were waking up Remus," Peter said.

"Shut it, Pete," James said, quite audibly. "We shower."

"Oh Professor," Lily Evans said sweetly. "When do they have time? Those poor boys are always in detention. Showering must be such an inconvenience."

"Yeah, well, at least we don't smell like Slytherin and greasy hair!" Sirius retorted.

"We just smell like twenty-one dungbombs!" Peter added. "Oh no, I gave it away."

"Another fifteen points from Gryffindor!" Aragon announced, putting an instant, wordless end to the argument. "Now, boys, you smell terrible, just go practice the spell at the back of the classroom. And Miss Evans, pay attention to your work."

* * *

><p>And soon, the boys were in their Potions class, greeted with a hearty "Oho!" Remus couldn't help but feel a bit unnerved by this event. Professor Slughorn was his exact definition of strange.<p>

"M'boys, you are so early to class!"

"I'm kind of starting to wish we weren't," Remus whispered to James, who held in laughter.

"Why, yes we are!" Sirius said, speaking in an oddly baritone voice. "Aren't you proud of us?"

"Very, very, m'boy," Professor Slughorn chuckled. "We do have a Slug Club meeting tonight, though, so I do recommend you show up."

"What Slug Club meeting?" Peter asked.

"Don't worry about it, Percy," Professor Slughorn replied. "It's only for those three."

"You're not missing anything," James said. "But sir, all of us like to suffer – I mean, enjoy – together everything we do. So if you can't accommodate Pete, then we're not going."

"Yeah," Sirius felt the need to validate what James had said.

Slughorn measured the pros and cons.

"All right, bring your little friend along. Oh, I'd lay off the sweets, you're getting a little pudgy round the middle there, aren't you, Pete?"

By now, most of the class had started filing in, and heard what Slughorn had said. A few of them giggled. Evans, for some odd reason, tried to quiet everyone down. Apparently she didn't appreciate the weight joke. Or maybe she was just trying to be clever or something.

"Yes, Professor," Peter said quietly.

"You're not that fat," Remus told Peter as the two went to their lab station, where they knew that the two of them would fail at what they did, as they did every time they tried to create something.

"Whatever, Remus, let's just try to make a decent potion this time."

"All right, class," Professor Slughorn said, clasping his hands together. "As you can see, I have laid out different ingredients at your lab station. The following ingredients combined at each of your stations can make one, and only one, potion. Can anyone tell me what that potion is?"

A couple students raised their hand.

"Mr Nott?"

"A cure for boils potion, sir."

"Very good!" Professor Slughorn seemed as pleased as his voice was. "Ten points to Slytherin. By golly, that was a difficult one."

"I'd bet the only reason he knew that is because of the numerous times he has to use it," Sirius whispered to James.

"Well, duh. He looks hideous."

_Quit talking! —RL_

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

_Stop! —RL _

"Do you even need to ask?"

_Oh, we're going to lose points and it's all going to be your fault! —RL_

"Boys!" Professor Slughorn called. "Might I ask what is so eventful in your lives that you simply cannot wait to speak about after this class?"

"Yes, sir, you may," James replied.

"It doesn't mean we're going to tell you," Sirius continued.

"I insist," Slughorn said. "Or I'll start to take points off."

"Well…" James gave his signature prolonged 'well' that had Remus and Peter both quite nervous about what was to come after.

"If you insist…." Sirius dragged his out as well.

"We were just speaking about how simply wonderful you look. Have you been working out, sir?"

"That's not what we were talking about, James!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Oh? So then what?" James asked, as if he were on a Muggle children's show.

The conversation was so foolishly staged that Remus wanted to throw a dungbomb at the two of them. But there were no more to throw, and Remus was powerless.

"I believe we were talking about Theodore Nott."

"Yes, he is an awfully bright student, to be able to answer Professor Slughorn's question like that."

"Ooh, yeah, man. Winning ten points, that was good."

"And that's all we spoke about," James ended.

Professor Slughorn eyed the two boys carefully. "All right, now, might I request for just five minutes of your sweet time for you to listen to everything I am saying, as opposed to commenting on Mr Nott's wit?"

"Sure, sir," Sirius responded, grinning like a bloody Cheshire cat. "With the small sacrifice that you choose not to take off points from Gryffindor."

"Yeah," James added. "Remus did enough of that already, we may even have no more left!"

Professor Slughorn did not know how to respond to the two boys, so he elected to continue to teach the class. "All right, class. So this potion can have a few predicaments that can occur. The only one I feel you are likely to run into is that when you are testing the potion, you may accidentally create a potion that causes you to have boils. Ideally, you want the potion to be an olive-green colour, and have some pink smoke coming out of the potion. Does everyone understand?" The class nodded. "Wonderful. Turn to page 51, pip pip! You know, I never really understood the numberings of these pages, the book presents things in a terrible order."

The class got to work, all except for James and Sirius, who still had their full attention on the tubby professor.

"Get to work!" Remus hissed.

"Yeah," Peter said. "If you guys keep behaving so badly, the entire Gryffindor House might get mad at us for always losing points."

"Yeah, and then your fan club, it'll _never_ exist," Remus added, deciding that his point would definitely have the two boys working.

But Sirius and James did not respond, which was quite strange.

"You know what, Peter, I'm not even going to get involved. I refuse to get another detention because of these two idjits," Remus said, shaking his head.

"I dunno, we might fall a little behind in the contest," Peter reasonably pointed out.

"No! We're probably going to lose a _million_ points and get a detention when Sluggy sees how awful our potion is! We're bad enough at this as it is!"

"Yes, but—"

"—No buts, Peter. Come on, let's just start making something," Remus said.

"Fine."

In this time, Slughorn had started to go back to his desk, mumbling little things to himself. James and Sirius gave each other a look and started to follow the poor professor to his seat.

"What is happening, boys?" Slughorn asked, looking a little unnerved by the two boys' stares.

They didn't respond.

"Why aren't you working on your potion? Mr Potter? I demand you answer me."

James rolled his eyes. "Professor, you told us that you wanted us to listen to every word you are saying for five minutes."

"We love listenin' to teachers," Sirius said, a little smirk tugging at the edge of his mouth.

"So we took that order to heart, and have been listening to your every word, as per your order. We were sure to listen."

"And not hear. Because we would only be 'hearing' if our minds were working on the potions, and that was not what you had said."

"Had it been what you had said, you would have said, 'might I request you hear me,' which you didn't, as that would be rather ridiculous, don't you think?"

"Aren't we such wonderful people?" Sirius asked, tilting his head to one side, perhaps because he thought it made him look adorable.

Slughorn sighed. "Oho, m'boys. I cannot deal with this right now. I'm sure you know what I meant—"

"—A detention for our cheek? I'm willing to serve James' detentions for him," Sirius said.

"Or I could serve his," James added.

"Boys, that will not be necessary," Slughorn said. "Please, go back to your seats."

"Will do, Professor!"

"And please, work on your potion!"

"Will do, Professor!"

Slughorn sniffed. "And what is that horrid stench?"

"Not us, Professor!"

"It smells like twenty dungbombs all went off in the same room."

Sirius grinned. "Funny you should say that. Perhaps you should check your sleeping commons when you get back to your room. It must be you."

As Slughorn proceeded to smell himself, James and Sirius headed back to their station.

_So? —PP _

_So nothing, Peter. —JP_

_Not even ONE detention —SB_

_Well, all you were doing was listening to the teacher. I mean, there've been worse things you've done. —RL_

_You're right, Rems! —JP_

_We must do something worse! —SB_

_No. No you mustn't. —RL_

_Did it not occur to you that the teachers aren't giving you detentions because they KNOW about the contest? —PP_

_Huh. —SB_

_Well, duh, but that doesn't mean they should let off terrible students so easily. —JP_

_We must go talk to Minnie about this offense. —SB_

_Besides, we barely have any detentions, given everything that has gone wrong. __—JP_

_Yeah. __—SB_

Sirius took a moment to pull out the detention contest sheet.

**DETENTION CONTEST: 1978 GRYFFINDOR WIZARDS**

**JAMES POTTER: X X XXXXXX 23**

**SIRIUS BLACK: X X XXXX 25**

**REMUS LUPIN: X X XX 18**

**PETER PETTIGREW: X X X 10**

_You carry that around? __—RL_

_Duh __—SB_

_You shouldn't! What if we get caught? __—RL_

Sirius looked at the note and rolled his eyes before putting the parchment away.

_Better? __—SB_

_Much. __—RL_

_Anyway, we don't have enough detentions. We have to go talk to Minnie. __—JP_

_No. No we shouldn – Hey! "We" aren't doing anything. —RL_

_But Remmy…you're part of this contest. —SB_

_Sirius is right. ALL of us should go. —JP_

_Oh man. I guess I can't argue with that logic. —RL_

_Aw, Remus thinks that it's stupid. —PP_

_Yes, I do, as a matter of—RL_

"Peter!" Remus exclaimed. "WHY DID YOU DO THAT? It was going so well!"

"I'm sorry," Peter said, looking down at the mess he had made. Darn him and his chubby, clumsy fingers.

"AUGH!"

"Oh Remus, I thought you were over the temper tantrums," James said.

Sirius widened his eyes. "No he isn't. Where did you hear that? Do you _not_ remember this morning?"

"At least the public tantrums."

The rest of the class, even Professor Slughorn, didn't seem to have forgotten Remus' temper, as they simply carried on working as if Remus hadn't yelled.

"You thought wrong," Sirius said, watching Remus mope over the loss of the potion.

And soon, class had reached the end.

"It is time to test your children!" Professor Slughorn announced.

"Children?" Remus asked, looking pale. "That sounds horrifying!"

"Why would anyone eat their children?" Lily asked.

"Calm down, m'children," Professor Slughorn said, leading to people grimacing at the very thought of Slughorn testing them, or potentially even grimacing at the mere thought of Slughorn being their father. "It was meant metaphorically." Then came the selective sigh of relief, although a few students, including the Slytherins, were definitely judging their professor's sanity. Sirius had to admit, this might be the only time the Gryffindors and Slytherins unanimously thought the same thing. "Please, dip the ladle into the potion and have a sip."

Remus stared inside his and Peter's third attempt at a potion. The potion was deep red, with green smoke flying from it. It was still bubbling, and it smelled strongly of dungbombs. Oh, that smell would never go away!

"Er, Professor?" Remus called, raising his arm.

"Yes, Mr Lupin?"

"How do you know it's not poisonous?"

"I suppose that's the surprise, is it not?"

Peter looked inside the potion and gulped. What was he thinking, picking Remus as his partner?

"S-sir?" Remus couldn't believe his ears.

"Relax, Mr Lupin. This potion is your first real potion you will be testing on yourselves. I can assure you that there is no way this potion can go wrong that it will poison you."

"Oh."

Although Slughorn's words were meant to be reassuring, neither Remus nor Peter felt at ease. Nonetheless, they took a sip of the potion. And…

Nothing happened. Somehow, Remus and Peter had concocted a potion that had done nothing wrong.

"We're alive!" Remus exclaimed.

"I know!" Peter cheered.

The two of them proceeded to dance and cheer.

Meanwhile, Sirius took a sip of his potion and looked in the mirror. "I look the same."

James rolled his eyes, "Well duh. You didn't have any boils to begin with."

"Oh yeah! Because I'm super attractive!" Sirius was happy to come to that conclusion.

"Shut it!" James said, before taking a sip out of the potion, now rest assured that it was perfect. "So?"

"N – oh! Your boil on your chin and nose! They're gone."

"What? I never had a – well, blimey. I didn't even know. But now I'm so attractive!"

On the other side of the room, Severus was freaking out.

"It worked on you, though, Lil!"

"Yes, and it did on you, Sev," Lily was pleading. "I told you, the blemish on your neck isn't a boil, it's a rash."

"B-but—"

The four boys couldn't help but laugh as they walked out of the room.

"So, lunch," James announced, as his stomach started to grumble.

Remus couldn't believe his ears. James had forgotten the plan! He wouldn't have to wander the school or do an—

"No, James, remember? We have to find Minnie and explain to her how awful it is to let certain students off so easy," Sirius said.

So much for James forgetting.

"Oh yeah!"

So the four set off towards McGonagall's office. She wasn't there.

"What?" Peter questioned. "Where could she be?"

None of his friends had an answer.

* * *

><p>"Minnie!" Sirius exclaimed, widening his arms, as he was followed by a rather tired looking Peter, a flat out frustrated Remus, and a hungry James.<p>

McGonagall tried to will the boys away with her mind, but it was of no use. Maybe she would create a new branch of magic, one that could will students away whom teachers didn't want to talk to. It would be a special branch, just for the professors – no other wizard would know it so it could remain without a countercurse. In fact, she could visualize the situation now: she could use the class list of Hogwarts students to make sure the spell only works on them, and thus the need of discovering a countercurse wouldn't be necessary.

But since this branch of magic had yet to exist, she had to settle for hiding, after Horace's warning that four boys may be coming to look for her. She had thought Filch's office was a clever hideout, but apparently not, since clearly she had been found. She was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"Mr Black, put your hands down."

James' stomach grumbled. "Okay, Professor McGonagall, we would like to keep this brief and short—"

"—Actually, that's just James," Sirius said. "I want to put in as much time is needed, although I'm sure you don't want to spend too much time in this closet. It's awfully small."

McGonagall sniffed. "What _is_ that smell? Boys, you do remember to bathe, right?"

Remus sighed. This was so stupid. Stupid dungbombs. Stupid Sirius. Stupid water not waking him up.

James rolled his eyes. "Blame Sirius and Remus."

"For your lack of bathing?" McGonagall raised an eyebrow, feeling rather amused, despite being trapped in a tiny room with four extremely smelly boys. "What is it I can do for you?"

"We just wanted to express our pure aggregation for the—" Sirius started, before being what he would call rudely interrupted by Remus.

"—Sirius, you can't just use 'aggregate' whenever you want. Try 'concern.'"

"Okay. We just wanted to express our increasing concern for the lack of detentions we've been receiving for our atrocious behavior."

"So, we wanted to make sure that we were appropriately punished for our behavior," James said.

"Boys," McGonagall said sternly. "As much as I do not wish to defend the loss of Gryffindor points, receiving detentions is not a punishment for you, but instead a reward."

"But McG," Remus spoke up, and mentally slapped himself for it once all eyes turned to him. "Are you telling me that any misbehaving student should not receive the same punishment number if they merely told a professor that they enjoy detentions? How is this fair to the other students?"

"Point!" Sirius said, pointing at Remus in an almost comical manner.

"The equivalence is different. And besides, you haven't been detention free since you started that silly contest. When you beg, detention is clearly a gift. If you truly misbehave, with the misbehavior at heart, then you do receive the appropriate punishment. But I realize teachers are more likely to lean more towards the loss of points for you because it is better to discern you boys from behaving poorly, as you clearly do not like the punishment."

McGonagall had to admit, the amount of attention the boys had paid her had been unnerving. She was used to them slacking off.

"But Professor, did it not occur to you that we could be lying to avoid detention?" Peter asked.

"That may be so, but had you been, I doubt you would have gone through all of this trouble to find me – even checking Filch's closet for me. I do not even want to know where else you have checked."

"Trust me, Professor, don't ask," Remus said, looking as if he wanted to destroy the memory of everything he had seen in the past forty-five minutes.

"Please, Professor, don't make our journey in vain," James begged. "I'm so hungry."

"If that is indeed the case, Mr Potter, then why don't you go eat?"

"Because _Sirius_," Sirius let out a 'hey' at James' confession. "said no."

"And apparently he was undervoted, and today was opposite day," Remus said. "I tried to explain the wrongness of logic, but you know, they didn't listen."

"You know," said McGonagall. "I was actually really excited that I wouldn't get to see you today and deal with this much stupidity."

"But you won't take points from our House, right Professor?" Sirius asked earnestly. "Because, you know, if you do, we'll be in the negative points before you know it. And that'd be for the first time in Hogwarts history. You wouldn't want that, now would you? Four First Years causing your House to make that kind of impact."

"You know it's not just us, right Sirius?" Peter asked. "Because I remember seeing Dobbins or someone losing points just before we left when we had checked the Great Hall for McGonagall."

"Shut it, PP, that's not the point of this," Sirius snapped, before going back to looking innocently at McGonagall.

"I'm sorry, boys. I simply cannot do what you are asking me to do."

Sirius took things to drastic measures. He collapsed to the floor and started gripping onto McGonagall's ankles.

"But, Minnie, Professor, _please_!"

Sirius was begging. And as much as James didn't want to get involved, he couldn't see any other solution. And, of course, once James got down on his knees, Peter did so too. McGonagall seemed terrified.

Remus, on the other hand, desperately wanted to preserve whatever dignity he and the group had left, so he tried to grab Sirius' collar and pull him up. Unfortunately, he failed at doing that since Sirius pulled him down to the floor, and Remus tumbled onto his knees next to McGonagall's feet. Unsure what to do, he started to beg as well.

McGonagall tried to shake the boys off but couldn't. Oh why hadn't her teacher's manual prepared her for something like this?

"All right! Fine! Five detentions, Mr Black, and four for you, Mr Potter, and three for both Remus and Peter!" McGonagall took a breath. "I am so disappointed in you boys."

Remus was absolutely ashamed. How could he do this? Even Peter looked down at the floor. James stepped back. Of course, though, Sirius would never make things easy and he had no sense whatsoever, as he proceeded to embrace McGonagall.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Before McGonagall could react, he stepped back. "YES!"

* * *

><p>"I can't believe we missed lunch!" James exclaimed. "I hate missing meals! I knew this would happen, it's all because we missed breakfast, which is the most important meal of the day. Now everything is going terribly!"<p>

"I'm hungry too," Peter said, as if it comforted James at all.

"I'm on far too empty a stomach to deal with Flitwick."

"Hey, at least we're at class on time," Remus said, being sure to point out the bright side of this.

"Oh yeah," James said, rolling his eyes. "How wonderful. We arrived on time to _this_ class, not the class that mattered."

"Now that one wasn't my fault!" Remus said.

"Just shut it, Remus, no one cares," said James, before taking his seat.

James was a little frustrated because of his empty stomach, to say the least. Remus tried not to be too hurt.

"It was _your _fault," Sirius whispered to Remus as he took his seat next to James.

Remus rolled his eyes, and rolled them again when he saw Peter standing and motioning to the seat where he intended Remus to sit. The four sat through Charms, watching Evans perform the charm in the shortest amount of time Professor Flitwick had ever seen, winning the Gryffindor House a much needed fifteen points.

Remus struggled in this class more than he would have liked, and it didn't help that at the back of his head, all he could here was James muttered obscenities about how Evans was such a Slytherin and a fluke. Remus chose not to tell James at this moment that when he did ask Lily for help on Charms, she was actually quite good at it.

But soon, class was over. James and Sirius had gotten the Charms, while Remus and Peter were assigned extra work. And, just to top things off because that was just the kind of day it was, Flitwick had wrinkled his nose in disgust, wondering, quite loudly, what the horrendous smell of dungbombs were, especially when he saw that Sirius had none in his pocket.

"We're stopping by the Great Hall," James announced.

The other boys, whose stomachs felt as if they were starting to turn inside out, nodded. At least the other boys knew how to deal with their hunger a fair bit better than James.

But when they got to the Hall, there was no food.

"Oho!"

"Ono!" Remus greeted. Sirius snorted.

"M'boys, what are you doing here? Surely you ought to be resting up and finished your work so you can attend the party. You boys never come."

"We were looking for food," James declared.

"Why, boys, it is past lunch hour. Food is disintegrated after lunch hour," Slughorn said. "You're not starving, are you boys? You just had lunch."

Unwilling to go deeper into conversation with Slughorn, the four boys smiled.

"No, we're not," said Sirius.

"Yeah…we just wanted to admire the high ceilings," clarified Peter.

"They're bewitched, you know. To look like the sky," Remus recited.

"See you at the party!" James said, as he watched the three boys fail at lying.

"Oho!" Slughorn chuckled. "Look forward to seeing you there."

When Slughorn left, James looked gleeful.

"I forgot about the party. I hear Slughorn has the best food!"

"We'll probably be able to eat more of it now that we have an empty stomach," Peter pointed out.

"Yeah!"

James was filled with a newfound excitement and energy. Thank Merlin, it seemed like they would no longer have to hear James' complaints when they went back to their smelly Dorm Room.

"We're going to plan our prank on Evans, right? One that'll work?" Peter asked.

"Oh yeah," Sirius said.

"I think we'll get her good this time," James said.

Even Remus was a little eager. "There's no way she's that unprankable. I'm actually kind of fed up with this."

So, as quickly as they could go without attracting suspicion, the boys hurried to their Dorm Room. Once they shut the door, they started spluttering.

"It's gotten worse!" Remus exclaimed, knowing that he had this worse off than everyone else.

"Well, you know, it is you—"

"—Don't say it."

Sirius rolled his eyes before taking a seat onto the floor and pulled out a giant pile of used parchment. It appeared to be the only part of the bedroom that wasn't a disorganized mess. It was full of the pranks they had attempted on Evans but failed at miserably.

Peter picked the one from the top up. "Oh Merlin, remember the time we tried to dump water on her?"

"We are _so_ not trying that again," James said, shuddering.

"I just can't believe I missed," said Sirius. "I never miss."

"Great time to miss too. You just had to land it on Professor Sprout, who now has a thing against us," Remus said. "Honestly, everyone says she never hates anyone, or takes away points. But not us, oh no, she hates us."

"It's not my fault she chose to walk by at that exact second."

"And not even a drop on Evans," James said, shaking his head.

"Don't even remind me about the dungbomb prank," Peter brought up.

"Oh, that had so much potential!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Let's just be glad we don't have to experience that again, seeing as Sirius has none left," Remus said, letting his shoulders slump.

"You know, though, the most recent prank we did totally would've worked," James said.

"The one where we were going to pretend to be in a Muggle horror movie after we darkened the Great Hall, and scare everyone by spraying fake blood all over, with the screams and everything?" asked Peter.

"Yup."

"Okay, that was all Remus' fault. He was supposed to be at the control panel where he could cast the charm on the place where the spell was originally cast. He was supposed to go to the bathroom, but then he never did what he was supposed to do," Sirius said.

Remus looked down. "Not my fault my mom called in sick and I had to go home."

Peter grumbled, "Your mom's always sick."

"Hey!" James exclaimed. "It wasn't all Remus' fault," he pointed at Peter. "You're the one who dropped the fake blood and started making noises while the lights were still clearly on!"

"I was nervous! And I was counting down the ten minutes like you said it would take," Peter retorted. "And besides, you guys started making noises after me and crashing the bottles!"

"Only because we didn't know what to do," James said.

Sirius put down the parchment.

"You know what?" Sirius announced. "This time, we're going to do the best prank ever. You know, we should just forget Evans for some time and focus on the most memorable prank ever, the one before Christmas break."

"So you _do_ know how to budget your time!" Remus exclaimed, excited with his discovery.

"Only on the important things, Remmy," Sirius said.

"Well," James dragged on the 'well,' so that everyone in the dorm knew he had something in mind. "I give you Sirius and his brilliant plan," he said quickly, after realizing he had no plan.

"We need to find the kitchens."

Remus rolled his eyes. "We've explored the castle so many times. What makes you think this time when we explore we'll actually find something?"

"We will," Sirius said confidently. "We just have to keep trying."

"So what's the plan?" asked Peter.

The boys discussed, doodling diagrams on every picture.

"And we can even have Evans be a special sector!" James said proudly.

And they kept working, talking, discussing until James looked at the clock.

"Look, it's time for the Slug Club meeting!"

"Oh yeah!" Sirius jumped up.

"I'm actually a bit hungry too," said Remus. "I can't wait for the party."

James' stomach grumbled, coincidentally at the same time as Peter's.

"Man, I just can't wait to eat. I've never been so hungry in my life."

"I thought by now you wouldn't be hungry at all," Remus observed. "Y'know, I thought after some time, your body got used to the hunger and started to consume the fats and other stored nutrients in your body."

"Well," James said. "You were wrong. I'm starving, and I know my stomach's been turning in itself. Come on! Let's just go!"

And thus began the boys' adventure to their first Slug Club meeting. Peter was especially excited to be included, and to get to sample all of the great foods they had heard so much about from the older students.

When they got to the door, they were greeted by loud music and chatter coming from all around them. And, heading towards them with great intensity, ran their Potions Master.

"Oho! M'boys!" Slughorn said, excited to see his four Gryffindor First Year male recruits show up to the club.

"Where's the food?" James asked, looking around the room.

"Oh, this meeting is all about being thankful for our multiple meals we eat at school."

"So, where's the food?" James was starting to panic.

"We are showing our gratitude for how much food we have to eat by realizing the alternative. Wonderful idea, right?" Slughorn explained, smiling, before turning to entertain some of his other guests.

James jaw dropped. "I'm out."

And he promptly left the party.

"Well, I guess where one of us go, all of us go?" Peter asked.

"Indeed!" Sirius announced, and Remus groaned at what was to come. "CHARGE!"

**A/N: Thoughts? Liked it? Hated it? Too much Peter? I actually had a lot of fun with Peter's character, to be honest. His letter was a really fun thing to write (y'know that thing _all_ the way at the beginning? XD). In fact, I wrote him so much in the chapter I might have to rename myself Wormie1972 O_o **

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, I had a lot of fun writing it - I thought it was much better than the last one simply because it felt less forced. **

**Now responses!**

**Morgan Lovegood: Thank you! The bubbles literally came to me in a dream.**

**katiek121: Awesome to hear from you again! I'll be sure to tell Sirius and Lily that you enjoyed the prank.**

**xxCallMeAmyiixx: Er... :( I don't want to be hated. Why do you hate me? The chapter? Or because I didn't update? Maybe you meant it fondly. Er, love you too!**

**5423789: XD I'm so glad you read it! And I'm glad it made your weekend, I felt so proud updating, y'know?**

**Insane-Bookworm-4ever: And I hope to hear from you soon too! :)**

**Thanks for reading!**

**PREVIEW:**

**It was so beautiful! Sirius had never seen anything like it. He could almost smell it. **

**Peter, on the other hand, just couldn't keep his hands off. He ran his hands all over i, brushing his nose against it and breathing hard. **

**"Stop it, Pete," James ordered. "No one wants to witness your love fest."**


	17. Illnesses and Giggling Women

**A/N: Thank you so much for reading this story. It's come so far, it has reached 100k words :') This is a huge achievement for me. Thank you so much for everyone's who's sent reviews and everything. I've edited this chappie far too many times XD I wanted to make it as perfect as I could. Of course, there're probably still mistakes. And plus, you don't realize that FanFiction doesn't keep italics from, like Word...DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO FIND A WORD IN ITALICS? XD They should add that feature.**

**Anyway, I think you'll like this chapter, because I know I do. So without further ado...**

**Chapter 17: Illnesses and Giggling Women**

_He ran, faster than he'd ever done before, faster than when he's played tag with the other boys. He knew nothing else, only that he had to run. The wolf was catching up._

_Fear, guilt...He was so sorry._

_He'd run straight for a tree. He couldn't move, the wolf was there, in front of him._

_"Don't," the boy whispered, his eyes skirting for a way to escape._

_The wolf scratched the boy across his chest, effectively ripping his shirt open, and sank his teeth into the boy's shoulder. He had never felt pain so bad, nor had he ever let out a shriek like he did in the night._

Remus awoke with a start, breathing heavily. He found himself on the floor, staring up into the faces of three, very concerned boys.

"Another nightmare?" Sirius asked.

"You can tell us, y'know, Rems," said James. "We don't bite."

Remus blinked. "Sorry for waking you."

This apology didn't make the boys get any less concerned.

"Do you need to go to Madam Pomfrey?" asked Peter, looking deep in thought. "Last time this happened, you were super sick as well. It was around the time Sirius was carrying you around."

"Thought we said we were never bringing that up," snapped Sirius, as if the mere thought of helping Remus diminished all his manliness.

"Really, I'm fine," said Remus, stretching his arms a bit. "Just a nightmare. It's no big deal. I'm not sick like I was last time."

James looked unconvinced, but at the pleading look Remus was giving him, he told everyone to back away.

"Let us know if we can help in any way," he said, before going to turn off the light. "G'night."

"Night," the other boys chorused, tucking themselves inside his own bed.

Remus lay in bed for a few seconds, unable to wrap his head around why he had the nightmare. It couldn't be his time, could it? He'd just gone to Madam Pomfrey, he'd definitely remember if the full moon was around. Finding himself awfully tired, and the dream's aftereffects quickly wearing off, he found himself disappearing into his old-time slumber.

Of course, living with the boys he did, there was no way he could keep his eyes shut for long. He was awaken by his roommates, who chose to flip over his mattress and yell at the top of their lungs.

"FOR MERLIN'S SAKE, I'M UP!" Remus screamed.

This was obviously not good enough for the idiots he was forced to room with, for they had a conga line of buckets filled with water starting to be dropped on top of Remus' head.

"I'M UP, YA EEJITS!"

The boys did not stop until every last drop of the ice cold water had been dumped onto their tiny friend, who was looking more livid than ever.

"Oh, Remus!" James said jollily. "You're up! What a surprise!"

Remus glared at James readying himself to pounce the bespectacled boy.

Sirius could not let this happen, though, as he grabbed Remus from the legs and placed him in the bathroom. Remus made a mental note to gain weight, else he'd be manhandled for the next seven years.

"Wash up," Sirius ordered.

"For the love of green socks," Remus muttered, slamming the door. "I hate all of you!"

Everyone chortled.

"Hey, man, you're the one who said you were fine last night," Sirius said loudly through the bathroom door. "We weren't going to be gentle with you after that. You might have fallen asleep."

The three could hear a light tinkling sound coming from behind the door.

"Shall we avoid telling him that it's five in the morning?" asked Peter, looking solemn. "He might not appreciate that."

James and Sirius grinned. "We know spells now, whatever he does, we can do back."

Remus opened the door, "You know, I can hear you! And I'm mad."

"Pull up your pants, Remus!" James yelped, slamming the door. "You've tampered with my innocent mind!"

"Give it up, James, not like it's the first time you're seeing," Sirius gulped, looking just as traumatized, but clearly trying hard to be the bigger person. "That."

Meanwhile, Peter was laughing harder than he ever had, tears streaming down your cheeks.

"SHUT IT!" Remus yelled again. This was not a happy morning for him. His room stank, and his mates were loud.

After finishing his business, he took a moment to look at his appearance in the mirror. His eyes were bulging out from his face. His skin looked almost translucent. What was the day? Finding himself in a bit of a panic, he got himself in order and left the bathroom.

He was greeted by two wands at the ready, with Peter behind them.

He shoved the armed boys. "I'm not going to curse you, let me go."

"Well, that was lucky," Peter said. "You guys were so scared."

"Shut it, Pete," James said. "You were the one trembling behind us."

Remus, from behind the curtains, was staring at the calendar. It was the full moon. How could he have forgotten? He was having so much fun, the year was going by so fast...How had he not realized that he'd been craving meat? This was the second month in the row...what happened to his symptoms? Wasn't he feeling terribly weak the first time? He was getting terribly lax...

Resisting the urge to punish himself, he started to change his clothes, his stomach sinking at the thought of his healing skin being destroyed once more.

"Remmy, stop plotting in there!" Sirius shouted.

Remus, who'd finished putting on his robe, opened the curtains and glared at Sirius.

"I'm not some monster you have to be afraid of!" he exclaimed. They boys looked taken aback.

"Chill, Remmy..."

"I'm not a damned monster!"

"No one said you were..." James said, the initial shock of Remus' anger wearing off. "We were just playing."

"And anyone's a threat to Peter," Sirius added.

Remus took a breath. "Sorry. That was awfully uncalled for."

"Ya think?" James asked.

"I just don't want you guys to be scared of me."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Trust me, Remus. You are the least intimidating person in this school." A mischievous glint crossed his eye. "It's why I can do this!"

Sirius pounced onto Remus, tickling the boy mercilessly.

"S-stop it!" Remus said, laughing as his stomach ached.

Sirius eventually stopped, and Remus caught his breath.

"Honestly, though, you need to man up," Sirius said. "Being scary can be good too."

James slapped Sirius across the shoulder.

"We're wasting time. We have to set our plan in motion."

"The prank?" asked Peter.

Sirius gave Peter a look. "No, your bowels."

Peter scrunched his eyebrows. "No need to be mean."

"Yeah, Sirius, play nice," James said, trying hard not to laugh.

Sirius sat on the floor and stuck his tongue out at James.

"Anyway," James announced, plopping down on the floor after Peter and Remus took their seats. "We're falling very behind schedule-"

"-Is it really 5:30 in the morning?" Remus asked, staring the clock.

"Yes, now stay focused!" James exclaimed.

Remus put his hands up, "Gee, I'm sorry..."

"Shut it," snapped James. "Anyway, where was I? Ah, yes. We're very behind schedule. Look at this calendar." He held it up. "Look at it!"

James pressed the calendar up against Sirius' nose.

"James, we saw!" Sirius said, pushing James' hand away from his face.

"Do you see that we're behind?" James asked again, glaring at the boys.

"Yes, James. Even Peter sees it," Remus said flatly, still glancing at the clock, finding it hard to wrap his head around the early hour of the day.

Peter was eating every one of James' words, even looking a little ashamed at their behindness.

"He's listening," said James. "But do you understand? We need to find the kitchens tonight, according to this calendar, so we have ample time of making sure nothing goes wrong with the prank."

"All right, James," Sirius said, plastering the same expression he does in History of Magic upon his face.

"This means no more homework, no more excuses, and no more holding us up," James directed the last sentence at Remus.

"Hey! If you put this much planning into your work, you wouldn't feel so behind all the time."

"Well, tonight, all conflicts must come to a halt. None of us have any detentions tonight, there is no reason we should not complete the grand tour of the castle, and _find the kitchens_."

After a moment's silence, Peter burst into applause. At a glare from James, Sirius joined in.

"Yeah!" James exclaimed. "We'll get it done!"

"I can't do tonight," Remus said, effectively silencing the room.

James stared at Remus like an angry mother. "What do you mean, you _can't_ do tonight?"

"My mother. She's fallen very ill. I have to go see her."

"No you don't," James said.

"You just saw her, like four weeks ago," Sirius added. "Every time you leave, we have to deal with an angry James."

"James isn't that bad," Peter said loyally, but his comment was lost in the emotion of the room.

"Go see her next week," James demanded.

"I have to see her tonight. I promised," Remus said.

"When we were setting the calendar, you never said anything. It's your fault we're delayed so much anyway!"

"Dude, James," Sirius said, widening his eyes. "You need to relax. You're taking this too seriously." Sirius smartly refrained from making the pun. "Pranks are supposed to be fun."

"I will not calm down!" James said, though calming down, looking horribly red in the face. "It's just not cool, Remus. You're always ditching us. If you already promised your mum, then you shouldn't've stopped us from going exploring earlier."

"I'm sorry!" Remus said. "I can't help that my mum just fell sick!"

"But," Peter said, speaking up despite his hatred for arguments. "If your mum just fell sick, then how'd you know to promise her to come tonight? And when'd you even learn this – you haven't gone to see an owl all day. We would've seen it."

Remus glared at Peter, recognizing the lack of continuity in his story.

James stared at Remus, understanding dawning in his eyes. "Are you trying to ditch us? Is that what it is? First you're always crying and whining, and now you just want to leave? What happened to we always stick together? You know, you never wanted to be friends with us anyway, just leave, then!"

Remus was panicking, anger burning in his stomach. "Fine then! I'll leave!"

"You do that!"

Remus stood up and headed for the door.

"Remus, stop!" Sirius called, racing to the dorm room door to stop it from opening. "You're not going anywhere. Sit down."

"No!"

"Remus..." Sirius growled.

Remus' shoulders slumped. "Fine."

"And James" (the boy in question shut his mouth from saying anything else he wanted to say) "you don't talk. I think Remus deserves to explain himself."

Remus looked at Sirius gratefully, trying to think through his plan at the same time.

"Don't give me that, Remus. I hate liars. And worse, I hate traitors. You better have a good reason for lying to us and trying to ditch us."

"Sirius, aren't you technically a traitor?" Peter asked, quite stupidly given the circumstance. "You betrayed your family."

Remus had never been so thankful for Peter's lack of tact. James, meanwhile, was staring hard at Remus, as if at any second Remus was planning to blow up something – though highly unlikely, James found that anger could do strange things to a boy like himself.

"Mother and Father never treated me well," Sirius said evenly. "They aren't my real family."

Peter seemed satisfied with the answer. Remus, on the other hand, felt the answer to be too short to give him much time at all.

"Talk, Remus," James demanded. "Tell us, why are you lying to your friends?"

Remus was freaking out. He couldn't tell James about his curse – if something so small made him so angry, then he'd probably destroy Hogwarts if he heard. There was no way to get around it, though, was there? And that's when, like a plane colliding into the ground, Remus got it. He thought quickly, making sure this time, there'd be no loopholes.

"Well?" Sirius asked. "We're not going to be here forever, y'know."

That seemed for certain. But Remus was going to hold on to his friends for as long as possible.

"Fine, I have been lying to you," Remus said.

James gave Remus a deadpan look, "No, really?"

Remus narrowed his eyes. "My mum has cancer."

He didn't get the response he'd hoped to get. Instead, he received three blank stares.

"So?" Peter asked. "My mum has lungs."

"It means she's dying!" Remus snapped. "She's dying from a disease. A Muggle disease that is _killing_ her. The doctor's – healers – all say she's going to die, that she hasn't much time left."

Sirius and Peter were startled — James looked guiltier than the both of them, though.

"Rems...I'm so sorry..."

"Forget it."

"Well, isn't there a cure?" Peter asked. "A magical cure?"

"No, there isn't. A-and I had a terrible dream that she was dying. You know, having that awful feeling in your stomach that something is going wrong? I know something is wrong. I have to go see her."

"Oh Merlin, Remus..." James said, his eyes tearing up a little bit. "I'm so sorry. You shouldn't have to go through that."

"You could've told us," Sirius said. "You didn't have to make James angry before you told us."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Peter asked, straightening up.

"Er..." Remus had no clue.

"Honestly, Peter, have you no sense?" James asked, mistaking Remus' confusion and heart-stopping fear for uncomfortableness, and Peter shrank back down. "He obviously didn't want our pity. Who wants to make friends and break their hearts?"

"I've just got to go," Remus said, trying to force his eyes to grow wet. They did not.

"Hey, Remus, it's okay. We'll change the plans a bit," said James, trying to make up for his yelling.

"No...it's fine," Remus said, quieting down, real tears starting to arrive. "I've been holding you guys back, I know it. You should go exploring so we don't fall too behind. It really is my fault."

"Remus," James said, giving the boy a hard look. "We'll wait."

"Oh come on, James, exploring's not my favorite thing. It stresses me out. When you guys find the kitchens, make sure you show me," said Remus, the lump in his throat still existent.

"Are you sure?" James asked. "We don't want to cause anymore disappointment for you. Whatever you want to do, we'll do."

"Honestly, James, I want to pull the greatest prank ever." James' eyes lit up at Remus' excitement. "And for that, you need to find the kitchens. I'll be gone for too long."

"All right, Rems."

Remus gave a small smile. "Have fun. I'm going to go to Minnie and tell her that I'm going to go see my mum. I'll be a few days."

Sirius and Peter smiled.

"Yeah, Remmy," Sirius said. "You should go."

Remus started for the door.

"We'll get some clothes packed, Remus. Just whatever you had set up for school for you," Peter said. "We won't go through any of your things."

"Oh, and Remus, your mum will be in our prayers. She'll be okay. She's a strong woman, just like you're a strong person," James said.

"Thanks," whispered Remus, as he shut the door.

He'd never felt worse in his life. His friends cared so much, they were so ready to take care of his mum — how they'd hate him when they found out the truth. He was a terrible person. Bringing his poor mother into the mess…And then the worst thought Remus ever had: if only his mother really had cancer, he could get out of this mess. What a terrible thing to think! Remus knew, deep down, he really was a monster. He could feel the pain even more now...it was clear now that tonight was the night. He hoped he could make it down to the Hospital Wing before he collapsed. There was just too much pressure, Remus didn't deserve to go through this. And he shouldn't have lied. He should've just beared the consequences, and manned up. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

James, Sirius, and Peter attempted to grab as many of Remus' clothes as they could with their eyes shut. It was an incredibly difficult task, but they didn't want to break their promise. None of them knew what to say to each other.

"That should be all the clothes," Sirius said at last, staring at the large pile of clothes on the floor.

James picked one of the robes up and burst into laughter.

"He's so tiny!"

James' laughter turned hysteric, almost manic, and soon Sirius and Peter joined him.

Soon they sobered up, taking deep breaths.

"Would've never guessed Remus was going through that," said James. "I can't even accept it."

"Yeah," Peter echoed.

"All right!" Sirius said. "We'll get this down to Minnie, and then we need to make sure we're on our best behavior so this evening stays free, and we _will_ find the kitchens."

The three boys stuffed the clothes into one of James' travel packs – they'd decided it was too difficult to shut their eyes and try to find Remus' – and set off to go find McGonagall and Remus to give them the bag.

"Are the teachers even up yet?" Peter asked, glancing at his watch. "It's only 6:45. The Great Hall isn't even open yet."

"That'll make her easy to find," Sirius said. "Minnie'll just be in her office." That's when it hit Sirius. "We're not even supposed to be outside of the Common Room right now!"

"Really? That's a rule?" asked Peter.

"Yeah," James said, not liking this conversation. "What, you thought that there was just a night curfew? Then people could just say they were out early. Oh man...we're going to get a detention..."

"It's okay," Peter said, not exactly sure what he was supposed to do.

"Yeah," Sirius said. "It's okay, James, we have an excuse. We're not really breaking the rules."

Peter wanted to help too. "Besides, we're not going to run into any teachers or anything…"

James and Sirius chose not to dignify Peter's comment with a response.

The three reached the Transfiguration classroom and looked around.

"Professor?" called Peter. "Professor?"

"She's not in here," said James, lugging around Remus' suitcase.

"But she should be in here," said Sirius.

"Well, clearly, this isn't her office," James said, wrinkling his nose. "Great."

The three walked on, finding the castle to be strange in the morning-light as well as empty.

They'd passed the Hufflepuff room, the only painting of Hogwarts without a human on it, a portrait of a pompous knight who called himself 'Sir Cadagon', the Ravenclaw room, the stupid History of Magic classroom where Binns didn't even notice they boys yelling at him...and yet they _still_ hadn't managed to find McGonagall.

"We shouldn't have let Remmy go on his own," Sirius said. "Where was he supposed to find Minnie from?"

James slapped his forehead, "We're idiots."

"Speak for yourself."

"No, actually, guys…she's probably by the Gryffindor Common Room. So students can quickly get her in the night," James said, feeling rather stupid, and knowing he was inflicting the same emotion over his peers.

"Well, let's go! Remus isn't going to wait forever," Sirius pointed out, showing great restraint in not screaming this fact to all of Hogwarts.

The three boys set off, hurrying to the Common Area as quickly as they could. They felt even more stupid than they felt before when they saw the sign in large, bold letters reading:

**Minerva McGonagall**

**Transfiguration Professor**

**Deputy Headmistress**

"Should we knock?" Peter asked. "That sounds like the right thing to do, doesn't it?"

Sirius took the liberty in knocking. When McGonagall opened the door, it would not simply suffice to say that she was unhappily surprised in seeing three troublemakers standing outside her office.

"Don't tell me you blew up the pillows in the Common Room," she groaned. It was then that she seemed to notice Remus was not present. "Is-"

"We have Remus' stuff!" James said, stuffing the trunk in her office. "Has he left?"

"His mother is sick, and he had to go see her. It was urgent. So we told him to hurry, and that we'd pack his bags for him," Sirius explained.

"And those were all the favours we said that we would do for him," Peter added, looking somewhat triumphant at his tactfulness.

"Oh!" Professor McGonagall said, feigning recognition. "Ah, yes. Mr Lupin was in such haste, he forgot to tell me you three would be coming. Not to worry, boys, I'll send him his stuff via floo - he left." McGonagall seemed to think it wise not to say too much more, for she had no idea what Remus had told the boys, and did not want to be the cause for any trouble.

"Thank you, McG," James said. "It means a lot. We are trying to help Rems in any way we can."

McGonagall was so touched by the comment that she did not bother to correct James' poor adaption of her name.

"Very well, boys. I know Mr Lupin appreciates this."

The boys grinned, unsure what to do. Sirius was rolling his feet between the heels and toes - he wasn't sure what well-behaved students did when it was time to leave teachers. And judging by the blank stares upon James' and Peter's faces, they seemed to have no clue either.

McGonagall, sensing the awkwardness that was occurring, decided to take action. "You may take your leave now. I shall see you three in class."

The boys nodded, and hastily re-entered their dormitory.

"Y'know," Sirius said, after they entered. "I reckon she likes us."

"I sense that she was like us in her time at Hogwarts," James said. "I think she was a prankster."

"I reckon McGonagall was born old and has no backstory whatsoever," Peter said. "She's so old."

"Regardless of her childhood," Sirius said, shuddering at the mere thought of McGonagall ever being a child. "She likes us. And that's a good thing. She likes us whenever we talk about Remus. We should talk about him more often."

James snorted. "And what? Call him Mr Lupin while we're at it?"

The three burst into laughter.

"You know," said Sirius. "I think we should ask some Muggleborns about cancer. So that when Remus comes back with the news, we don't sound like blubbering buffoons."

James seemed to think it was a good idea. When seeing James' acceptance, Peter began to nod vigorously as well.

"We might as well ask some people now," said James. "It doesn't make sense to go to the Common Room this early. We might only have Snivelly for company."

Of course, Peter wanted to seem very helpful in front of James and Sirius. So, he asked the first Muggleborn who woke up that morning. None other than Lily Evans.

"Evans!" Peter exclaimed, despite James' and Sirius' silent prayers.

"What?" she asked coldly, giving Peter the sharpest and most evil glare she could muster.

"What is cancer? Is it contagious? How does it come about?" Peter asked, in what possibly could be the most blunt style in all of history.

Lily Evans, of course, blamed James and Sirius for the cause of this questioning.

"I see how it is!" she declared, as if she had discovered a potion for immortality. "Because you can't stand the embarrassment, you're going to send Pettigrew over to ask me things. What, now you want to give me cancer via magic? How dare you suggest such a thing! I'll have you know that my great-great grandfather passed away due to it! My grandfather said that my great-grandfather mentioned him once! And you want to cause that kind of pain to others here? How dare you?!"

And with that speech, Lily stalked off, her nose in the air. "I'm going to breakfast."

The boys all stared at each other.

"Merlin, for the girl being at the top of our class, she sure can be real dense at times," James said, shaking his head.

But Peter was glaring at his friends for different reasons.

"You guys trick me into embarrassing myself?"

* * *

><p>The boys behaved surprisingly well all day. They'd even braved their way into the library, researching all sorts of solutions to problems, and any background on cancer they could find. They made sure to write wonderful notes for Remus, and even wrote some bullet points to get his homework off to an easy start. And soon, before the boys even realized, the clock now read 11pm. They could hear the Gryffindor Prefect enter the Common Room. Patrol was over. The castle was free, ready for the boys to explore whatever secrets it had to hide.<p>

That was when Sirius had his brilliant idea.

"James! What'd happen if we didn't take the cloak?"

"Didn't take the cloak?" James was a little surprised at the request.

"We move so much slower with the cloak, and we don't get much searching done."

"Yes, but..."

"Oh c'mon James, it'll be more fun without the cloak! We'd be on the run...actually paying attention to stuff."

"But..."

"And besides, the Prefects are done patrolling anyway. There's nothing that would catch us!"

"But the portraits..."

"They've got to sleep at some point. Come on, James...please!"

James ran his hand through his hair. "That actually sounds like fun."

Peter was shocked. It sounded like a terrible idea. They could get expelled. But now that both James and Sirius had decided on this, he knew he had to listen. He stood no chance at persuading them otherwise.

"Sweet!"

With the plan in place, the three boys exited the portrait, only their wands serving as protection. James and Sirius lit their wands first, Peter took a few extra seconds - he figured his wand must have been faulty.

"We should've come up with plan," said James after fifteen minutes of wandering the area around the Fat Lady. "If we did-"

"A plan would have hindered our searching," Sirius said. "And making searching harder is bad."

"You know," Peter said thoughtfully. "It's not too late to go get the cloak."

James and Sirius whipped around to face Peter.

"What? You're scared?" James asked.

"Then just go wait in the Common Room. Exploring is supposed to be for the daring," Sirius said. "We don't need the cloak."

"Fine. But can we move from here? I think we can safely establish that the kitch - oh, all right, the kibble - is not anywhere near here."

James shrugged. "I guess."

They crept around the corners, holding their wands like daggers. Sirius noticed the likeness, and poked his wand at James.

James turned, holding his wand in both hands, turning his dagger to a sword, and hit Sirius' wand. Sirius narrowed his eyes and hit James'. Soon enough, the boys had engaged themselves into a bit of a brawl, hitting each other's wands, sparks flying in every directions, splattering over the concrete.

"Guys," Peter said softly. "I don't think you're supposed to use your wands like Muggle weapons."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Why do you say that?"

"Look," Peter pointed down to the floor. "I don't think that's supposed to happen."

The two boys looked down at the mess they'd created. The sparks had created some sort of green goo pond, with a smell that the boys could not recognize.

"I hope the smell doesn't wake a teacher," Peter said.

"Don't be daft," James retorted. "The teachers are far away from here. They won't smell a thing."

Peter looked down. "All right, then."

After walking down the corridor, and down multiple flights of stairs, Sirius found himself getting bored and voiced his thoughts.

"Dude, you need to calm down. We're exploring. It's fun," James replied.

"Yes...but I don't like looking for things. I like happening across things. And this stupid painting's making me hungry and I don't have food."

"That should add to the urgency that we _need to find the kibble_. Or would you rather we didn't do the prank at all?"

"And you know what? You need to lighten up. Why are you stressing so much? The prank's going to be fine."

"Yeah," James said. "But I feel like better prankers before us had found the kibble on the first day of school."

"I mean, we could as the Prewetts," Peter said. "They were apparently legendary - I bet they know something."

"We're _not_ going to ask anyone," Sirius said. "That's not happening. We're going to establish ourselves, by ourselves."

"No one'd ever know..."

"Stop it, Pete."

Peter stopped talking instantly, vowing to himself that he'd only listen to whatever James and Sirius had to say for the rest of the trip. Their on-edgedness would get them all in trouble at this rate before they found anything.

"We're going round in circles anyway," James said. "We came by this painting _ages_ ago. In the morning."

"I bet Remmy'd be able to smell the food," Sirius said. "He's always smelling strange things like that."

"Yeah, well, Remus isn't here," James said, feeling his determination rise. "And we're _going_ to find the kibble."

"Okay!" Sirius said, trying hard to keep his voice from getting too loud.

"And Peter, get off the painting," James directed.

Peter, who'd been taking an opportunity to rest his legs by leaning on the wall, started to slowly stand up.

"I think someone's awake," he said.

"You're just being paranoid," James concluded.

"No really," Peter persisted. "I swear, I heard someone giggle."

"Giggling means no teacher," Sirius shuddered. "Imagine, hearing a teacher giggle..."

"Sirius! Stay on topic," James said. "And shut up, I hear it too."

Peter was right. There was indeed a quiet sound, sounding like a little girl giggling. It was kind of creepy, given the overall silence of the hall - the small giggle echoing through the corridors. They couldn't help but notice there were no other paintings in this very hall - like everything was coming down to this painting of fruit.

"Oh no!" Sirius cried. "There's a witch trapped in the painting. An evil wizard must've painted over her! We have to save her!"

And with that, Sirius valiantly started to rub all over the painting, trying to scratch off the fruit coat.

Peter wanted to help, so he started to slobber his own sweaty hands all over the painting.

"Hold it!" James said, widening his eyes at the painting. "The pear wiggled. I swear, the pear wiggled."

Sirius and Peter directed their hands towards the pear.

_Oof, too hard!_

Sirius and Peter backed away. Did the painting just talk? James stepped forward, stroking the pear.

"I'm sorry we caused you such pain, ma'am."

Before Sirius could comment on the ludicrousy of James talking to a pear, the painting swung open, the smell of treacle tarts and other delicious goodies coming from within the room.

"No way," Sirius breathed, his eyes alight with excitement.

He appeared to be the only boy who was going to say anything, as James and Peter had their mouths wide open, standing comically frozen.

"Get in!" he hissed, pushing the two into the kitchens. The door behind him shut with a soft creak.

"I is Zelda, sirs. What I get you, sirs?"

Before the three could get situated, or even take in the true magnificence of the room, they were greeted by a greyish animal, who could be no larger than two feet.

"Er...are these the kitchens?" Peter asked dumbly, lost for words.

"Yes, sir! This are home, sir! What Zelda get you, sir?"

"All sorts of sweets and snacks, Zelda, would be wonderful," James said. Even he was not used to so much choice.

Zelda snapped her fingers, and from what appeared to be nowhere, hundreds of elves started to create and pack desserts.

"You're so - _nice_!" Sirius said, in awe.

James laughed. "House-elves are supposed to be like this, mate."

"B-but..."

"You probably just have a strange house-elf," James dismissed.

Sirius thought about it. James was probably right. Like the rest of his family, of course his house-elf had to be nasty as well. He couldn't help but start to wonder how much nastier he would be, now that Sirius had been Sorted into Gryffindor.

"Sirius look!" James exclaimed, his eyes staring at a small room of the kitchen.

Sirius ambled over. "Wha - oh Merlin!"

They were staring at a replica of the Great Hall, each table with its own tiny place card - perhaps going to show where students were sitting that day.

"It is to help with dietary needs, sirs!" Zelda announced. "We places foods on table, sirs, and then we is teleporting foods to Hall sirs!"

James and Sirius grinned at each other. This was perfect. Their prank would be so easy to implement - and no one would be able to prove it was them, as the consequences for breaking the rule at school might be more dire than a few detentions. That is...

"Zelda, if we were to add some things to the food, would you be able to keep that a secret?" James asked, making full eye contact with the short elf in front of him.

"But of course, sirs! What is you is wishing to do, sirs?" Zelda's ears had perked up, excited that she could be helpful in any way.

"Just spread some Christmas joy," James said, winking at the elf.

Zelda grinned and nodded. "I is doing that for you, sirs!"

"Guys!" Peter called, from the other side of the kitchens. "Oh, you've got to taste the food!"

The two hobbled over excitedly, ready to eat whatever it was that the house-elves prepared.

"Is it good, sirs?" Zelda asked, as the boys stuffed their faces.

The boys could only grin. It was so much better from within the kitchens than it was in the Great Hall.

"You is taking foods to your dorms too, if you is wishing," Zelda said.

Almost unnaturally, the boys grins grew even larger.

"We'll take the lot, Zelda, and get out of your hair," James said.

"I is hoping for you to returns!"

James, Peter, and Sirius started to pick up as much food as they could carry.

"Thank you, Zelda," Sirius said, bending down. "This is brilliant."

Zelda could only grin as the boys left. She loved it when students came by - it was nice to see new people and watch them grow, rather than the already grey-haired Dumbledore.

The boys, on the other side of the door, found themselves having to walk very slowly in order to not drop the food.

"How are we going to remember how we got here, and how to get back?" asked Peter.

The boys didn't think this far ahead. They couldn't post signs up reminding them how to get there, otherwise everyone'd come. And how were they supposed to know that the route they were memorizing was indeed the correct one?

"We'll just have to take notes," James said. "Even if we take a wrong turn, we'll just take that route until we figure out exactly where it is."

"Okay," Sirius said. "I guess right now we should find the stairs."

"Do you remember how many flights up we are?"

"No," Sirius said. "I only remember us going to the bottom floor."

"I can't hold my wand and the food at the same time," Peter said, staring around in the darkness. "How're we supposed to see anything?"

"We'll just try to feel our way around," James said, feeling quite stupid at his idea.

As no one doubted, the boys managed to get caught by McGonagall, as they went one floor too high and their hard, grumpy footsteps awoke the Professor seconds after a candle from her chandelier fell onto her robe. She'd given the boys ten detentions each in her frustration, and had even managed to make the boys feel guilty over her burned sleep-robe. She also confiscated their food, although she did not seem to get angry at the boys for discovering and stealing food from the kitchens.

* * *

><p>"How's your mum?!"<p>

"IS SHE OKAY?!"

"Is she bald?"

"Is she fatigued?"

"What phase is it?"

Remus was greeted with three very worried sets of eyes when he returned four days later - his head was still pounding, but he was quite excited to get out of the Hospital Wing. All that white was driving him crazy!

"She's okay," Remus said at last.

"Oh good!" James' shoulders relaxed. "We were so worried. We asked all the Muggleborns about cancer - apparently it's very dangerous."

"We're so glad she's okay," Sirius added.

"When'd'you think she'll be in remission?" Peter asked.

"Er...not sure," Remus said, responding to Peter's question, shocked at how large his lie had already become. "She's still very ill...er...you didn't...er...you didn't tell anyone, did you?" he asked, hoping it sounded at least somewhat offhand.

"Of course not!" James said, and Remus let out a sigh of relief. "We wouldn't betray you like that."

Remus laughed, and sat down on the foot of his bed.

"So...did you find the kitchens?" he asked, eager to change the subject.

"Yup!" Sirius said. "Here're the notes."

"Brilliant!" Remus said, outstretching his hands. "Oh this'll be great. We could get food whenever we want."

He started to read the parchment.

**Directions to the "Kibble" (That's our code for Kitchens!)**

**Turn right, turn left, turn right, turn right, turn right, turn right, walk down, turn left, turn right, turn left, walk down, turn left, stroke**

Remus did not feel like these were adequate directions to the "kibble", and thus voiced his dissatisfaction.

"They're not _bad_," Sirius defended.

"What'd you even write?" James asked, sticking his head in front of the sheet so he could see too. "Wait, how're you even supposed to know when to turn? Sirius..."

"Don't get mad at me! I got tired, so wrote down the important things!"

"Bloody hell, Sirius..."

"Hey," Remus said. "What're you stroking?"

"A pear," James replied. "At least we remember that."

"So what? There's just a pear lying around in the school?" Remus asked.

"No, it's a painting of fruit in a silver bowl with a pear in it."

"The one by the Hufflepuff Common Room?"

"I dunno!"

"Well, according to _Hogwarts: A History_, there's only one painting of fruit as of now in the building - it was in the index of paintings. So that must be it, and that's located by the Hufflepuff Common Rooms, which is in the basement. There's supposed to be a corridor or something..." Remus trailed off, shocked at his own memory.

Sirius' eyes lit up, "That's the one! We were at the bottom of the stairs!"

"Those lucky Hufflepuffs," Peter said. "They don't have to go anywhere to get food."

"Do they even know it exists?"

"Probably," James said. "But they might not use it that often. Or just have the house-elves give them the food."

"You know," Peter said. "I was almost a Hufflepuff...I could've had that service."

"Yes, but then you wouldn't have us," James said. "And we're far more important than food."

"I don't know," Remus spoke up. "I could live without you..."

Sirius slapped Remus round the shoulder, who bit his tongue so he wouldn't yelp.

"All right, all right," James said. "But our prank - that's in full-fledged action."

"Oh Remus! We have to show you the kitchens!" Peter said.

Remus' eyes lit up. "Oh please, we don't have classes and we wouldn't be breaking any rules! This is perfect!"

And the four boys excitedly got their stuff together, ready to plan and discover the kitchens. Of course, now that Remus was back, James and Sirius refused to go to the library, leaving Remus and Peter feel like thieves smuggling hundreds of books out of room after they went over the limit of books.

But best yet, they had discovered a nifty spell, after they re-entered their poop-smelling room.

"SCOURGIFY!"

**A/N: So? What'd you think? Oh, I didn't mean to make the boys argue in the beginning, that kind of just happened. Now the ending to this chapter, as I'm fully aware, sounds so much like the end of the story *covers face* Can you tell that it was a struggle? And I know...I edited out the preview from the last chapter. I'd planned for a different time skip, but then I knew I hadn't written Remus' full moon for a while...so I had to do that. The prank's going to be in the next chapter - so that's your preview. Otherwise I'll give too much away :)**

**Now, to respond to you peeps!**

**katiek121: Yes, it was a bad day for them. Today was much better :)**

**5423789: Thank you so much! **

**readeverthing: Thanks for reading! By the way, I love your penname.**

**SlytherinNick: Thank you so much for reviewing and favoriting. SlytherinNick has just embarked on a journey of her own - to write a Marauders fanfic. I encourage you to check it out :) It's called: The Marauders Tales**


	18. Red and Green

**A/N: I'm back! And this time, the next chapter is also ready to rumble. I ended up splitting this chapter and the next because I decided 15k words was too long for a chapter, and fortunately, I found a natural split. Fair warning in advance: the two chapters are a little more jumpy than usual, but I don't think you'll mind. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter and I think you guys will like it too. **

**NOW THIS IS IN ALL CAPS. I READ THIS WONDERFUL FANFICTION CALLED MARAUDERS MARAUDING. It is written by Nutmeg Loves Books (she also reviewed the last chapter sixteen times). I would really recommend that you check out her story (she's also very fast at updating, for the most part she's on a weekly basis). **

**And lastly, before we get into the chapter, I would also like to thank my flamers: Guest and Guest. I deleted one flame. Guest called my ass fat and hairy, and I didn't see what that had to do with anything with my story. Next, I got another reviewer who told me that my characters were too American, which was fine, but they then proceeded to insult my grammar and then called me a f* moron. First, I do not want that kind of language in my review profile. The reason this has not been deleted was that it was pertaining to my writing, and I did want to improve. I don't pretend to be British, and I don't pretend that my story is perfect either. I've been incorporating some AU ideas, and trying to keep my story original. **

**Special thanks to the Guest who reviewed after (I wish I knew your name) defending my story. It was very sweet of you. **

**Anyway, without further ado, time for the long awaited chapter!**

**Chapter 18: Green and Red**

James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter had never pored over books the way they had been doing for the past two weeks. They'd learned more spell theory than they'd ever done in their lives (mind you, they hadn't been studying and attempting magic for very long) and they'd never created as many failed potions as they had done.

They'd been working for hours - Remus and Peter were on spell duty, while James and Sirius worked on the potions.

"Guys," Remus said finally. "I think that we need to keep things simple. We can't summon a Father Christmas, and we can't summon cows, and we don't have a potion to make the nonexistent cows pink. We've been aiming too high. We have enough of a prank without it."

Though he'd been originally approached with much backlash, the boys eventually decided that they weren't going to take as much risk as they had originally - they couldn't have anything go wrong. The feast was going to be exactly two weeks before Winter Break started - James had to admit that the feast did indeed seem a little early. But he chose not to voice his opinion with the professors. Remus said that this was indeed the smartest decision James had ever made in his life.

And then the day came. There were no classes the day of the feast, so three of the four First Years spent much of the day in the kitchens, their potions sprawled all over the kitchen floor.

"Do you really think it's going to work?" Peter asked, as Zelda started to set the table.

"Yes," James said. "It can't possibly not work."

"And Sirius will definitely make the cannon work?"

"Of course he will," James said.

"We know Sirius is good at exploding things," Remus explained.

"Okay."

"Hey, Zelda," James said, eyeing the house-elf. "Promise you're not going to tell the Professors _anything_ about us being here?"

"Of courses nots, sir," Zelda said, looking solemn. "I is never committing such things. You is nots getting in to troubles sirs, if you is doing nothings wrong."

"Great," James said. "We're not doing anything wrong."

Remus and Peter looked at each other and tried not to laugh. James was quite the liar - unless, of course, James truly didn't believe they were doing anything wrong. Remus would not put that past him.

"Evans has picked her seat there?" James asked, pointing to a placecard.

"Yes sir," Zelda replied. "Is you wanting to put the potion on this plate?"

James handed the potion to Zelda. "Put some there, and some on Sni - Snape's food."

Zelda did as she was told without question.

"It's not going to blow up, is it?" Remus asked, a knot in his stomach forming. "I really don't want to hurt anyone."

"C'mon Rems," James said, rolling his eyes when Remus corrected him. "We're not maiming them. It's a prank - we're _humiliating_ them."

"I know that," Remus said, casting a charm across all the food. "But do you know the potions are going to work?"

"Yes, Remus. It's going to work."

"But you didn't test that batch, and every other one failed."

"Yes, but this one looks right."

"Okay, but looks can be-"

"Merlin, Remus!" Peter exclaimed. "Stop questioning James. He knows what he's doing."

James held his nose high, feeling rather smug. "Yeah, Remus. I know exactly what's going on."

"Fine."

Meanwhile, Sirius was setting up the cannon, in the corner of the hallway, underneath James' invisibility cloak. He wished he had dungbombs, but he supposed the paper would have to do. James reckoned that it would not be a very nice Christmas if everyone smelled of dungbombs. Sirius had surprised his peers with his artistic ability - little did they know how long he had to practice art when creating multiple versions of the family tree whenever he made his father or mother the slightest bit upset. Oh, how they loved it when he would leave himself off the tree for Christmas gifts to Bella.

"_Confringo_," he whispered, without his wand, needing to get the spell right.

He was just waiting on James' 'okay'. With that okay, he'd let off the cannon, and all havoc would break loose. He was more excited to get Snivellus than anything else. It'd be the one highlight of the entire prank - he knew Remus had been convinced last night that they were doing this to spread Christmas joy. Sirius had no clue who he was trying to kid. The boy needed to fully accept that he was a troublemaker, even if he was now last place in the detention contest.

Sirius started to let his mind wander - would Minnie write to his parents if he got too many detentions?

He didn't have too long to muse, however, because he felt James pinch his back.

"Dude!" he hissed, but James had quickly gotten out of the way.

"Boys!" McGonagall said, suddenly popping up. Merlin, that woman! "What are you boys doing?"

"Waiting for Sirius," James said smoothly, while Peter started to find the brick under Lady Eesa extremely interesting.

"Oh Minnie!" Remus said. "It's Christmas. Don't be so suspicious."

McGonagall turned her hard stare towards Remus.

"Er...Professor," Remus finished.

"Ma'am," James spoke up, as Remus had clearly lost his nerve. "We don't know nearly enough magic to cause much of a ruckus, if we're perfectly honest."

James stepped on Peter's foot, hoping that he'd notice what he was supposed to do. Peter did.

"I can never know-"

"-McG!" Remus exclaimed. "I think it's very rude-" Sirius could barely hold in his laughter - James was starting to look like a model student at this point. "-to be so suspicious of us."

"Yeah," James said. "I didn't see you stopping Evans from entering the Great Hall."

"She wasn't loitering, Mr Potter. I am not going to begin to rationa - Mr Pettigrew! Have you something in your eye?" McGonagall was now staring at Peter, trying to keep a stoic face, although Remus reckoned she was trying her hardest to hold back laughter.

Peter started to blush. "No, Professor. I'm good."

"Damn," came a soft, yet aggressive whisper.

McGonagall turned around. "Who was that?"

"Oh Merlin, am I hungry!" James said louder. "Gee, Rems, did you hear my stomach rumble?"

Needless to say, McGonagall was not amused. On the other hand, Remus was panicking.

"Oh, James!" he said, his voice sounding awfully squeaky and quite unlike his own. "You must be so hungry. Let's just take our seats. We're holding everyone up."

"Yes, Remus, let's!" James announced. "And blimey, here comes Sirius!"

McGonagall turned around, and saw Sirius out of breath.

"Oh hello, Minnie!" Sirius said. "Sorry, guys, y'know-" He held his stomach. "Wasn't easy." Peter snorted. "You guys didn't have to wait for me," Sirius continued. "Let's get in there - oh Minnie, you might want to take your seat too, otherwise Dumbledore might start to take some of your food." He gave a cheeky wink. "You know how he is."

McGonagall pinched the bridge of her nose. "Detention, Mr Black. And it'll be with Filch."

"No! Not Filch," Sirius started to dramatically shout, before being ushered in by Remus.

The four boys took their seats, James and Sirius on one side, and Remus and Peter on the other.

"Man, I don't want to sit right across from Peter..." Sirius moaned. "Now all I'm going to see is his ugly mug."

James slapped Sirius' arm. "Be nice, he's our _friend_. Anyway, I don't see you being much better - you dropped your wand? Really? You had _one_ job."

"Shut up, my hands were numb," Sirius said. "And the cloak was stuffy. At least I got the spell right on try one."

"Yes, yes," Remus snapped. "It's all very impressive. Now please, for the love of Merlin, can we talk about unicorns or something?"

Peter laughed.

"I'm serious."

"Oh."

"No you're not! I am!" Sirius said, puffing out his chest. "Oh no, Dumbledore is about to announce the food - what if it doesn't work?"

"Don't be daft," Remus said again, feeling awfully on edge. First he'd spoken poorly to McGonagall because he was nervous, but he also had to realize that everything they had done could go horribly wrong. "There's a timer. It will work. It'll go off probably a few minutes after. Unless fire suddenly moves faster?"

"Nah, I'm getting kind of worried."

James was sitting silently, staring at Dumbledore, zoning out of the other boys' conversation. He wouldn't dare tell them about his terrible nightmares he had, all of which involved the prank failing miserably and accidentally murdering Flitwick. His parents would be so disappointed with him...but he was sure nothing would go wrong. Or at least, he hoped. If it did go wrong, would he have the courage to stand up and take the blame? He should take it like a man, he hoped his friends would stand up too...

"And now, without further ado, the food!" Dumbledore announced, leading to applause from the students.

"Ready for the red tongues?" Sirius asked, taking a breath.

"Can't believe we're pranking ourselves," Remus said, trying not to grimace as he took a large bite from the meat he was eating.

Exactly on cue, the boys felt their tongues itch and turn green with red stripes.

"Oh my!" James exclaimed. "My tongue!"

Other students immediately started to feel their tongues and ask friends to look and check the colour. And then came Lily Evans.

"Ib's swbelling!" she cried.

Students turned and started to laugh.

"Seb!"

Snape, on the other side of the hall, looked positively horrified at the size of his tongue. As he started to cry out, he felt a shock on his head. His hair started to grow, and was starting to string together.

"Sirius!" Remus yelped, staring at the guilty boy. "What was that?"

"Oy, shut up, it's funny!" he said, laughing.

"Snivelly, you need a haircut!" James shouted.

"Pobbah!" Lily Evans screamed. "Bix it!"

James looked affronted. "Why Evans? Why do you blame me? Do you really think I know enough magic to make this happen?"

Lily Evans glared - she didn't know what to say. She was stuck between an inflated ego and a disappointing night.

Peter was laughing harder than he'd ever done. "Look at Slughorn!"

Slughorn was doing some sort of belly dance. "I feel like something is alive!"

"Oh hush up!" McGonagall said, rolling her eyes, pointing her wand at the tubby teacher. "For Merlin's sake, get a grip, you are a _professor_."

"Minerva, I love your tongue," Professor Aragon said softly, fixing his own hat. "The colour suits you."

"Boys!"

However, before she could say much else, the teachers heard a cannon.

"Oh, here it comes!" Peter whispered, feeling giddy.

Little shreds of paper started to fly everywhere, all in red and green, and one large poster came into view.

"Wingardium Leviosa," James whispered, keeping his wand inside his robe and still pointed towards the large parchment.

_Merry Christmas, Hogwarts! And a Happy New Year!_

The Hall fell into silence as James lowered the sheet. And soon, one person clapped, and then another. Soon, the entire hall burst into applause, sticking their tongues out for good measure. Lily and Snape, however, were glaring - tongues hanging out. Lily had managed to stop their tongues from growing any further, as well as Snape's hair. Even Professor Sprout gave a light applause, before being given a look from Professor McGonagall.

"Boys!" she exclaimed, staring at the crowd.

"Blimey, Professor, it's not fair to assume that a male would've performed this prank!" a Ravenclaw girl who none of the First Years could recognize said, looking affronted. "Us females are just as good at magic!"

"Oh I think I know who did this...Potter! Black! Lupin! Pettigrew!"

The four boys stood up, making a silent unanimous decision to stay innocent.

"Professor?" Peter said, speaking up. "I had no part in this."

Remus gave Peter a look.

"I commend whoever did do this," Sirius said. "And I am honored to believe that you believed we had such capabilities."

The Hall stared at the four boys and then back at McGonagall.

"Probeber?" A small voice spoke up. "Ib is clear who bib thib pwank! Don'b liben to theb."

"That as it might be," Professor Dumbledore said quietly. "We have no proof it was them."

"B-but-" Professor McGonagall said.

"It really was an interesting display of magic," Dumbledore said, magicking a nifty Christmas hat for himself.

McGonagall's shoulders slumped and she sat back down, muttering something. Remus was certain it sounded something along the lines of, "I love my house." James and Sirius were exchanging looks, unsure what to think of this turn of events.

"Now that the display is over, let us eat!" Professor Dumbledore said, fixing the tongue-size of Lily and Severus from his chair.

A few people cheered, while others merely sat down to finish their meal. Eventually, people fell back into their usual discussion.

Sirius, meanwhile, was staring at Dumbledore.

"He got us out of trouble!" James was saying.

"I don't believe it," Peter said. "D'you think he approves of us doing this?"

"Guys," Sirius said. "The headmaster just winked at me."

"Don't kid yourself," Remus said. "He did not."

But he too started to watch Dumbledore in case he missed any further glances of approval.

It was certainly strange to be in the spotlight like this. Every student seemed to know that the four First Year boys from Gryffindor were behind the prank, yet no one said anything to the professors. It was as if people really enjoyed the prank. James had never been prouder.

"Yes! Thank you!" he was yelling in the Common Room that evening.

The best part was when Quintin had come up to James for six minutes and clapped him on the back. Sirius was starting to get more attention than he normally did. He was especially excited when this one girl told him that he was cute and more unlike his family now that he had done this. As much as Remus hated to say it, he too enjoyed the attention, although he tried to hide his glee by burying his nose in a textbook. Peter loved the attention, and was proceeding to tell whoever would listen about his part in the prank.

In fact, the only Gryffindor who didn't seem to be engaged and excited about the feast was Lily Evans, who was in a corner scowling.

"Alright, guys," James said to his friends, as much of the Common Room cleared up. "Let's go to-"

"-You're not going anywhere, Potter," Lily hissed, giving James a look.

"-t-to play a game of chess!" he finished, giving Lily an odd look.

"Yay," Sirius said unenthusiastically, pulling out his Black-encrested Wizards' Chess set from underneath the couch cushion. He appeared to have not noticed Lily hissing.

After what appeared to be the lamest game of chess in the century - even Peter had stopped cheering when James would destroy Sirius' pawn - Lily stood up.

"Oh, _now_ can we go to bed?" James asked sarcastically. "Everyone is gone."

"No!" She shrieked.

James flinched. What was up with this girl?

"Sorry, Evans," Sirius said. "But you had to have realized that James would want revenge. So next time, don't get on his bad side."

James nodded. "Yeah."

"Argh!" She shrieked again.

"Evans!" Sirius said, putting his hands forward, looking rather alarmed. "You need to calm down. It's a prank. Learn to laugh it off."

"You guys bother me so much!"

"Don't tell me you didn't let us go to bed because we bother you," Peter said, looking a little disturbed. "Because if you let us go to bed, then you wouldn't have to worry about us anymore."

"You guys are the limit," Lily said, glaring at Peter. "And you, you're just like the rest of them."

Peter wasn't going to lie. He'd never felt more pleased with an insult as he did now.

"I'm going to talk to Remus."

The boy in question looked up from his book. "Me?"

"Yes."

Remus started to stand up.

"If you want to kill him, you have to kill us first!" James said suddenly, getting his wand out.

"I'm not going to kill him, Potter, don't be stupid."

"James, don't be ridiculous," said Remus. "I'll be back."

James narrowed his eyes, but stepped back. "Fine."

"Now go upstairs, all of you," Lily instructed.

Scowling, James stomped up the stairs, followed closely by Sirius and Peter.

"What's up, Lily?" Remus asked quietly, not entirely sure how he felt about the unnecessary drama Lily had created.

"What's _up_? What's _up_, Rem?" Lily asked, looking angrier than Remus had ever seen her. "We're supposed to be friends, why would you do that to me?"

"Lighten up, Lillers, it was just a prank," Remus defended, trying not to get upset. "Besides, you're the one who shot the spell at James in the first place."

"Is that really what this is about?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't _you_ stop them?" Lily asked, giving Remus the meanest glare she could muster. "They know we're friends-"

"-Acquaintances," Remus interrupted, recalling Lily's previous conversation with Snape. "I dunno, Lillers, you and Snape are best friends-and Snape doesn't get along with my best friends, and you're friends with him. I'm sorry you feel hurt in any way.

"B-but that's not fair, Rem!" Lily said. "It's not fair. I didn't bother you. And how do you even know they're your friends? What if they're just okay with hanging out with you?"

"Look, Lily," Remus said, taking a breath. "Right now, they're my friends. We all like each other. Sirius, James, and Peter are all very nice. Even they do just tolerate me, I appreciate it."

"Well, you have to choose: be friends with me, or them," Lily demanded.

"Why?"

"Because if you like Potter and Black, then we're on different sides."

Remus stared at Lily. "Then I'll pick them - but Lily, I don't want to make any enemies."

"Well too bad!" she hissed, stomping up the stairs. "Bad night, _Lupin_."

Remus blinked. How did this happen? He should've known - he hated losing friends. He was about to go up the stairs when he heard a rustle.

"Sirius?" he called out. "James?"

"Merlin, Sirius, I told you that even if Peter picks his nose, you have to stay still," James hissed, before throwing the cloak off. "Remus!"

"What a surprise," Sirius said, ignoring James. "Didn't expect to see you here."

Remus gave him the I'm-so-done-with-you look.

"Just so you know, Remus, we don't just tolerate you," James said. "Evans is just a jerk and a sore loser."

"Hear, hear," Peter echoed.

"C'mon l'il Remmy, let's go to bed," Sirius said, joyfully, after an awkward silence had emerged.

Remus sighed, "Don't call me that."

* * *

><p>Sign-up sheets were being passed around the breakfast table.<p>

"What's that for?" Sirius asked, peering over James' shoulder.

"If you have to stay here for Christmas," James said, laughing. "No one stays here, that's only if their parents hate their kids, and for that, the kid needs to be really aw - sorry, mate," James cut himself off after remembering that Sirius was not welcome at his house over the winter.

"Gimme the sheet," Sirius said, stretching his hand, and scribbling his name.

"I bet you could come over to my house for the winter," James said.

"It's _fine_," Sirius snapped.

"Actually," Remus said. "Sirius can't go over to your house for the break because his parents need to approve that. I doubt they'd do that."

"Sorry man," James said, before turning to Peter. "But you and I are getting together."

"Yeah!" Peter's eyes lit up. "First, you're coming over to my house and meeting my parents, and then I get to meet yours! It's gonna be brilliant!"

Remus laughed at Peter's excitement.

"You know, you could come join us," Peter said. "My parents would love to meet you. As long as your parents are okay with it, of course."

Remus glanced down at the table. "I really wouldn't want to spoil the fun, Peter - I'd like to spend time with my parents."

"What if we came over too?" James asked, looking eager. "It'd be fun!"

"Er," Remus turned to Sirius for comfort, but found him very focused on his food. "Well, I'd rather not - don't want my home to be too loud or anything...y'know...for my mum."

The word 'mum' was turning out to be a great word for Remus, as it always shut the boys up on whatever it was they were trying to persuade.

Sirius continued to eat his food in silence while the other three boys ate and conversed amicably. Remus had tried to incorporate Sirius into the conversation on multiple occasions, but Sirius' new brick wall personality seemed to have taken over the old Sirius personality.

In fact, this new Sirius seemed to stick around all through class.

"Sirius, you're being dumb," Peter said when he was stuck sitting next to him in History of Magic, since Remus had hustled over to sit next to James.

Sirius kept glaring.

"Honestly, if you're going to be passive aggressive or act like we've done something wrong, then you need to do a better job."

Sirius kept on glaring.

"You know, Professor Binns is not that interesting."

"Peter, if you don't shut up right now, I will hex you," Sirius warned.

Peter, as much as he wanted to talk to Sirius more, did not want to be hexed and stopped talking.

* * *

><p><em>His whole family was sitting around the table. Even every guest they invited entire family was sitting around the table. The table itself was covered in green with ornaments of all colours around. Father Christmas would be coming soon - it was a time to celebrate. He could see the Christmas tree from the corner of his desk.<em>

_It was then there was a loud thumping noise, and a flash of green light. A scream._

James awoke with a start, and heard rustling in the bed over. A couple moans, coming from his right.

"Sirius?" he whispered. "Is that you?" He asked it like a question, but he was fishing for a response.

There was no response, the rustling had stopped. James could still hear the heavy breathing - as if Sirius was scared and trying hard to fake sleep.

"I'm not daft," James said, getting out of his bed and drawing the curtains of Sirius' bed. "I can see you."

Sirius slammed his eyes shut.

James groaned. "I'm not going to sit here and wait for a response, mate. I haven't all night."

Sirius did not respond.

"Merlin, Sirius - I'm going to ask you one more time. What's bothering you?"

Instead of answering, Sirius pulled the covers over his head.

James rolled his eyes. "Okay, you want to be all grumpy and try to ruin Christmas for everyone, that's fine. I'm not going to watch you be stupid."

After Sirius did not respond, James slammed the drapes and went to the bathroom to wash his face to remind himself his dream was not real.

Remus woke up on his own, much to the surprise of himself. He glanced over at Peter's watch, which read 9:15am.

"Merlin!" he shrieked. "We're late!"

Peter opened his eyes. "What's up, Remus?"

Remus was panicking. "We're late for class! Oh no! We're going to be in such trouble..."

Sirius glanced over at the commotion and rolled his eyes. "Calm down, Remus. There're no classes. Last day before the break remember? The train doesn't leave until tomorrow, but you have today to get packed."

Remus relaxed. "Oh yeah."

"Now shut up so I can sleep."

"Where's James?" Peter asked, noticing the lack of his best friend in the room.

"Probably pooping," Remus said, ignoring Peter's snicker. "I'm going to try and sleep too, Pete. Night." Remus closed his curtain.

Peter furrowed his brow. He didn't hear the sound of James' poop. And he _knew_ the sound of James in the bathroom. Instead, he heard the sound of water. He ambled over to the bathroom and knocked. He heard a moan. Knowing it was time for him to take action, he twisted the knob, surprising himself that the door wasn't locked. He had been ready to bust a move on that door.

"James?" he asked quietly, confused to find the boy on the floor of the bathroom. "What are you doing here?"

Peter reshut the door after entering.

"I don't know."

Peter was confused. "What do you mean you don't know? And why's the tap on?" Peter shut off the sink.

"I don't know the spell to dry it up," James said.

"James, your trousers are all wet," Peter said, pointing out the obvious. "At least you don't wear a shirt to bed."

"I had a nightmare," James said. "It's a weird one."

"Oh?" Peter asked, trying to hide his curiosity. "What happened? Is it Sirius? Because he's just being a prat, he's not going to hurt us."

James laughed. "I know that."

"Oh James," Peter said. "I was supposed to tell you. I'm not going to be eating supper with your family on Christmas. I'll be spending that with my parents. My parents want me to be there for Christmas, and then you could come the day after that."

James started to hyperventilate.

"Er...James? Your pale and spinning your head."

Peter had felt the need to point out the obvious again.

"Never mind," James said, after taking a breath. "It was only a dream."

"Yeah," Peter narrowed his eyes. "That doesn't explain the bathroom."

"When'd you become a bloody interrogator?"

"Since I found my best friend on the flooded floor of a bathroom wearing wet trousers."

"To be honest, I think I got really tired. I was trying not to think about my dream and then, well, I guess I sat down because my legs got tired. I guess in that time I fell asleep."

"That's such a Remus thing to do."

James burst into laughter. Peter chuckled too.

And then they heard a knock on the door. "Guys? Professor McGonagall is here and she doesn't look happy. She's kind of glaring at me. And is twitching her right eye. She's signaling me to stop talking. Please come out...she's tapping her foot now."

James and Peter opened the door, finding Remus at the door, McGonagall standing at the door of their dormitory, and Sirius sitting on his bed.

"Mr Potter. Put on a shirt," McGonagall said, before casting a spell on the bathroom, instantly drying up all the water. "You boys ought to be ashamed of yourselves."

Remus looked down, quite ashamed. Peter merely looked confused, while James bit his lip.

"Are you happy? Pranking a teacher like that? Five detentions for the both of you, Mr Potter and Mr Pettigrew. And ten points from Gryffindor for each of you, Mr Black and Mr Lupin, for not stopping them."

"But Professor-"

"Mr Black, I do not want to hear you complain about your lack of detention. I can assure you that Professor Aragon was not pleased to see a leak in his stock of magical creatures, and was not pleased to see part of his dark creatures in a stage of panic."

"Oh!" James said. "We didn't mean to do that. It was an accident."

"Mr Potter, there is no room for discussion."

"Professor," Sirius said. "I don't think this was a prank...I think James accidentally left the tap on."

"As I said, Mr Black, this is not up to discussion."

"That's not fair!" James protested.

Unfortunately, McGonagall left the room.

"Why are you upset, James?" Peter asked. "Aren't you happy that we both got detentions?"

"I only want detentions when I'm in control! This - this is injustice! We must get our revenge."

Remus decided that this was a good time to step into the conversation.

"No, James, this would not be the appropriate action to take at this time. Instead, try taking a deep breath."

James did not look amused at this comment.

"Honestly, James, don't be such a prat," Sirius said, getting up from his bed. "Take the detention and move on. Look, you have so many now."

**DETENTION CONTEST: 1978 GRYFFINDOR WIZARDS**

**JAMES POTTER: X X XXXXXXXXX 46**

**SIRIUS BLACK: XXXXXXXXXXXXXX 42**

**REMUS LUPIN: XXXXXXX 31**

**PETER PETTIGREW: XXXXXXXX 38**

"Huh."

"C'mon, let's go get food," Sirius said. "Hurry up."

Sirius exited the dorm room.

"Well he's just chatty now, isn't he," Remus said, rolling his eyes and following Sirius.

* * *

><p>James, Remus, and Peter were packing their trunks. Sirius was half-heartedly helping - he was tossing random pairs of socks in the general direction of his friends. The others took no notice - or at least pretended such. They continued to talk amicably. Eventually, Remus broke away from James and Peter and ambled to Sirius.<p>

"My bag's packed," he said.

"I see that," Sirius replied.

An awkward silence ensued.

Remus was starting to get a little frustrated. "Honestly, are you going to just sit here and mope about everything? It's Christmas, don't be a Grinch."

"I'm not being a...what's a Grinch?"

"Clearly, you," Remus gave what he felt was a sufficient definition. "So get your act together."

"Fine."

* * *

><p>James awoke from his nightmare and heard the rustling in the room again. He was not pleased.<p>

"Sirius?"

Sirius did not respond.

Groaning at the thought of a night like the previous night, he got out of bed and walked to Sirius.

"I know you're up, mate."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "What do you want? Don't you want time before your _fun_ day with Peter?"

"Really?" James asked. "That's it?"

"I'm fine, James. You go sleep."

See, that comment did not exactly give James the urge to go back to his own bed.

"C'mon Sirius, let's go to the Common Room."

"What?"

"Come on!"

"Er..." Sirius sat up in his bed. "You need to put on a shirt."

"Right," James said, blushing. He went through his drawer. "Brilliant."

Sirius and James went out to the Common Room.

"So?" Sirius asked, dropping into a couch. "What?"

James rolled his eyes. "It doesn't take a genius to know you're upset, Sirius."

"Yeah, well."

"Honestly, Sirius," James started. "I honestly don't think it's that big a deal for you to stay at school. Lots of people do it."

"Yeah, but lots of people aren't forced to. I don't want to stay here."

"Then why don't you come on the train with us and then just show up to your parents' home? They're not going to turn you away."

"Don't be stupid," Sirius said. "They told me I had to stay here. It was an order."

"Yeah, but your parents love you and-"

"They kind of, well - I don't think they do, James," Sirius said. "And that's hard."

"I suppose."

"You don't get it. You and Peter have perfect lives - even Remus' mum loves him. I don't want to go home, but I don't want to be here all alone."

"I don't know why you're so concerned. You're not going to be all alone. You'll have all the professors and other students."

"You even said that we're just the dumb kids staying back."

"Really? You're going to base that off that? You know I didn't mean it like that."

"Yeah, I guess."

And suddenly, James understood. "You're scared I'm going to like Peter more than you."

Sirius was lost for words. How did James figure that out?

"I'm not going to forget you and Peter and I aren't suddenly going to be best friends. I mean, all of us are best friends...but you're like my _best_ friend. Like my brother. It's different with you."

"Seriously?"

"Is Sirius your name?"

Sirius laughed. That joke would never get old.

"And frankly, Sirius, I still think Peter is strange. I mean, he's very nice and all - and he's a very good friend - but I'm positive he's going to embarrass me or something in front of my parents by puking all over the table or something."

"You better write me if that happens."

James laughed. "You know I won't." He stood up. "So, are you ready to actually sleep tonight?"

"Yeah." James stood up. "And James?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. You're the best brother ever."

James grinned. Sirius certainly did know how to make him feel like he was doing something for someone.

**A/N: So...thoughts? Constructive criticism? Comments on my hairy anus? XD **

**I hope the prank was good...it's still first year, I have time to improve!**

**Special thanks to my reviewers.**

**Dawn Lovix: Thank you for your review!**

**Guest: :) Thanks! I was super proud. Word has stopped keeping track of my words...I guess 312 pages is enough to make it stop.**

**katiek121: Thanks! I thought it would be cool. I hope you like this chapter!**

**Hogwarts. Always: Thank you for your review! You're brilliant XD I have written the next chapter and the one after that. You should be proud.**

**Nutmeg Loves Books: Wow, where to start? Thank you so much. I was certainly taken my surprise. You are a brilliant writer, and it means a lot to hear back from you. I'm going to respond to all the questions you had. Remus is registered as a werewolf, but Dumbles got permission, and this information is not available in national databases. Remus is definitely interesting, but I'm really enjoying writing Peter too. I hate him a bit, but I think of him as someone who's very loyal to the big person at the castle. In this case, it's James, because he makes him feel welcome. You are also welcome to use Remus' characterization if you want. I think of it as an action of utmost honor, if someone liked my idea so much they wanted it. Remus is starting to loosen up a bit - he's kind of like that person who regrets everything he does, but wants to be cool. This story is definitely a long story (First Year is longer than I expected...just setting the scene a little bit.) But I think it will start to pick up, and I am learning the art of time skips. I'm glad you enjoy my McGonagall...she's one of my favorite characters to write in my story. She's a little OOC compared to the books, but I like her.**

**Guest: I continued :)**

**Guest: I already thanked you up above.**

**Guest: Thank you for your kind words. You are very sweet.**

**Stay tuned, the next chapter is major. I should be updating soonish...I'll see how I feel. It's fun to have the power and feel slightly on top of things again.**


	19. Christmas

**A/N: Here it is, the next chapter! Don't have much to say. This is it - a big deal. XD I hope I didn't overhype it too much.**

**Chapter 19: Christmas**

James, Remus, and Peter had gotten a compartment. Remus couldn't help but feel that they had gotten a little lucky. The train was rather full - he was worried that he and his friends would have to split up.

"Hopefully no one else sits in here," James commented.

"Aren't you nice?" Remus retorted.

"But then we have to talk to other people."

"Yeah, oh, the horror."

As if on cue, they heard a girl's voice.

"Sev, I can't help it that everywhere else is full."

"There's got to be somewhere to sit though," said the male.

James crossed his fingers, hoping against all hope that the people outside were not Lily Evans and Snivellus.

Lily Evans opened the door.

"Damn."

"Excuse me?" Needless to say, Lily was not pleased with this reaction.

"We're not sitting here," Snape said determinedly.

"Yeah."

"Ditto to that," James interjected. "Get out of our compartment."

Lily and Snape left the compartment.

"Well, that was a rather useless interaction," Remus evaluated. "Wanna play Exploding Snap?"

"Sure," James said.

Before Remus could do much with the cards, they heard yelling.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T HAVE A PLACE TO SIT?"

"It's not our faults!"

"There's less space on the train than there normally is."

"THERE IS ENOUGH SPACE FOR ALL STUDENTS WHO ARE GOING HOME!"

"There was a compartment…"

"No, there wasn't, Lil!"

"We could go there. But it stinks."

"Are you serious? A First Year rivalry? No, get a move on, hup hup, come on."

The three boys heard three sets of furious footsteps heading their way.

"Oh no, please don't be our compartment, please don't be our compartment…"

"Er, James," Peter said, looking hesitant. "I think it is our compartment. You see, we have extra space, and if there's just enough space for everyone, then we're going to have to let them in. As you can see, it is the only logical solution to—"

"—Peter, shut up," Remus said helpfully.

The door of their compartment was rudely opened.

"See, there's space," the Gryffindor Seventh Year who had declared herself to be Head Girl showed.

"Not with Potter's fat arse in it, no," Snape spat.

"Get inside," she ordered, before shutting the door.

James was pouting. He did not appreciate the new guests in the compartment. Remus was not appreciative either, but was far less immature about showing it. Of course, the last time he and Lily had spoken, they had fought and ended their friendship. Peter looked more upset that James was upset – he never really understood why they hated on Snape so much. But it was much better than them hating on him. Snape, on the other hand, had his head held high.

James did not hide his disgust. "Look down, Snivellus. No one wants to see the inside of your hideous large nose."

"Stop it Potter," Lily said quickly. "None of us are happy about this. You leave us alone and we'll leave you alone."

"Speak for yourself, Lil," Snape said. "I'm not afraid to give them a piece of my mind. Pettigrew, you're stupid. Lupin, you're ugly and tiny. And Potter, you're a coward." Snape put his hands on his lap, feeling rather proud of his insults.

"Well that was hardly cordial," Remus said. "I'm sure we can all be civil with each other for a few hours."

Much glaring ensued.

"You guys are going to hurt your eyes if you continue to stare at each other like that. I must admit, it's not pleasant."

Lily couldn't help but agree with Remus, but felt that if she spoke any words to him, then she'd be telling him that she didn't mind being his friend, and that would go against everything she had ever agreed with.

But it seemed that the whopping consequences of damaged eyes was enough to make the students in the compartment quiet.

"Snivelly?"

At least for a couple minutes. James did not seem to want to make any compromises with Slytherins and Gryffindor traitors.

"Have you ever thought of using shampoo? I mean, it might make you look less hideous."

Snape did not appreciate the supposed 'helpful' advice. Apparently, neither did Lily.

"Potter!" she hissed. "You have no right to say that. You have an ugly face."

Peter was quick to help James through this traumatic comment. "I don't think you have an ugly face, James. Don't get upset."

This carried on for much of the train ride. James would say something mean to Snape. Snape would glare but come up with no defense. Lily would jump in. Peter would tell James that he was wonderful. All Remus wanted to do was get off the train and see his mum. He didn't appreciate Lily and her lack of speaking to him. He also thought that James and Snape were being awfully childish – James especially. He knew that he should probably say something, but he just didn't feel like it.

Yet, the sound came, one that came onto them in a bellow of smoke, the horn of the Hogwarts Express. Finally, _finally_, the train had arrived.

"See ya, Snivelly," James announced, jumping out of his seat. "Merlin, now I have to wash my robes..."

"Wait," Peter said softly, leading to a huff from James. He was looking between Remus and the window, the gaps between which getting shorter and shorter.

"Potter, move out of the way," Lily said randomly, ignoring Peter's demonstration. She shoved James and got out of the compartment.

"Pettigrew, no one wants to see your dance," Snape added, before shoving past and hastily following Lily.

"Oh, you'll pay for that-"

Unfortunately, no one ever knew what new name James was going to call Snape, as he was cut off by Remus' arm.

"Peter, what is it? Our parents are waiting, remember? Haven't seen them for months..." Remus decided the best course of action to distract James from Snape was to speak.

"I think I see your mum, Remus!"

"Really?" James asked, his eyes lighting up. "Let's go say 'hi'! It's so great to see her out in the fresh air!"

"Wha..." Remus froze. James and Peter took no notice, and ran to the platform. "Bugger!" He exclaimed as the boys ran. He hadn't told his mum _anything_. "Crap. Crap. Crap." He quickly got out of the compartment and hustled off the train.

Unfortunately, James and Peter had already gotten to his mum. He could hear the conversation.

"So happy to see you here, Mrs Lupin!" Peter squeaked.

"Great to see you up and at 'em. You're looking fine!" James cheered.

Hope Lupin seemed rather confused at the introduction, but seemed to have pieced that these must be the friends Remus had made.

"Why thank you, my dears," she said, while seeming to be searching for her small boy on the platform.

Remus' stomach dropped. He hadn't planned this far ahead. And right now, he had the terrible feeling that something awful was going to happen – and he knew exactly what. His mum would be so disappointed in him, and his friends were just going to be terribly upset. Oh why had he thought that it would be a good idea to lie to his friends just to keep them? Clearly, it was an unnecessary plan. He didn't need friends.

Of course, though, Remus was an emotional being, and simply couldn't agree with the rational part of his brain. The only action he could see himself taking was that he had to save his friends and his dignity. So he ran forward to his mum.

"Mum! You're up! This is so wonderful!" he exclaimed, embracing Mrs Lupin rather tightly.

James normally would've teased Remus for this clear showing of un-masculine behavior, but he couldn't find it in his heart to follow through.

"And it's so nice to see you after so long!" Mrs Lupin was saying.

"Of course it hasn't been _that _long," Peter said. "He just saw you a couple weeks ago."

Mrs Lupin was very confused.

"Yeah, mum – all that cancer treatment, right? I'm shocked to see that the doctors have let you out," Remus said, wincing all the while.

"C-Cancer?" At her son's desperate look, she laughed. "Oh yes, cancer. Er, yeah, chemo is rough…but the doctor said that I could come to see you come home."

"Heh, heh, oh Dr. Smyth," Remus chuckled.

"Er, Mrs Lupin, not to be rude or anything…but shouldn't you be bald?" Peter asked, tugging gently on Hope's hair.

"Oh yes, my dear, I have had a wig sewn on!"

"Oh mum, it looks beautiful," Remus said, feeling worse and worse.

"Peter!" A frazzled, plump woman came running into the station. "Oh my baby, I'm so sorry I'm late!" She hugged her son tightly.

"Mum…James is watching…" Peter said, trying to pull away.

Mrs Pettigrew seemed to have suddenly noticed the other two boys and woman.

"Oh hello, my little pumpkins, you must be James," she pointed at Remus, who immediately blushed, "And you must be Sirius," she pointed at James.

"_Mum_!" Peter hissed. "No! That's James and that's Remus, Merlin knows how many times I've explained this to you."

"And I'm Hope Lupin, Remus' mum," Hope extended her hand. "Pleasure to meet you."

"Ah, the woman with cancer. I do wish you all the best," Mrs Pettigrew said, before glancing at her watch. "Oh dearie me strawberries, I'm late! C'mon boys – nice to meet you, Hope. C'mon, hup, hup."

Remus would've giggled at the sight as James and Peter left had his circumstances not been so dire.

"Young man, you have a lot of explaining to do."

* * *

><p>Sirius stretched and looked around the extremely empty room. He never really realized how large the dorm room was when it was not filled with four boys. He was able to go to the bathroom without having to fight amongst his friends for it. In fact, it was quite pleasant. Of course, he would've liked to hit James with a pillow or something - because who doesn't want to hit their best friend with a pillow in the morning? - but clearly that was not going to happen.<p>

He got ready, felt the random quiet of the room, and decided that he was going to chill with the professors since clearly the first year room was far too quiet and no one he knew was staying over. He didn't exactly know which professor he wanted to see, so he decided to just wander the halls aimlessly until he bumped into someone worth speaking to.

He exited the Common Room and entered the halls. Within a few moments...

"Oho!"

_Bugger_, Sirius cursed. _Why Slughorn?_

"Excuse me, Mr Black?" Professor Slughorn was looking at Sirius was a great amount of disappointment.

It was at that exact moment Sirius realized that he had been talking aloud to himself all morning to fill in the silence. This was certainly awkward.

"Oh Professor, sir, good sir, kind sir, didn't see you there! Having a lovely morning? Why of course you are, a splendid man like yourself..."

"Mr Black, had it not been the lovely Christmas Break, I would be offering you a detention and a point deduction. But as it is..."

"You love me?" Sirius asked, his eyes lighting up like the silly little child he was.

"Fair enough, Mr Black. I shall see you later, I suppose. Perhaps you and I can meet up in the evening...in fact" (Sirius was freaking out, this conversation was not going like it was supposed to) "how about, in return for your particularly rude comment, you and I get together this evening in the Great Hall?"

Sirius started to groan, reminded himself not to, and plastered a stupid grin on his face.

"Of course!"

* * *

><p>Remus was staring down at the dinner table.<p>

"I'm sorry, mum. I really shouldn't have made up such a terrible lie."

Hope looked at Remus. "I'm not so upset over the gravity of the lie, Remus."

"You're not?"

"You're not?" Lyall looked up at Hope, just as confused.

Hope narrowed her eyes at Lyall. "Of course not. I understand all what my little Remmykins has to go through. I'm disappointed that he didn't tell us."

Remus was shocked at this turn of events and rushed to defend himself. "Mum, I didn't know what to write to you. Honestly, what would I have said? _Oh mum, I'm having a great day at Hogwarts, also, you have cancer?_"

Lyall snickered, but Hope looked on disapprovingly.

"Don't give me that attitude, Remus...I can only wish that you don't use this kind of voice with your teachers. No, I'm disappointed that I could've completely blown your secret!"

Remus bit his lip.

"Exactly, Remus. From now on, I fully expect you to be on much better communications. After all, any problem you go through at school is a problem all of us must face."

Remus knew that his mother was only trying to comfort him and try to open the pipelines of discussion and transparency between them, but he couldn't help but start to feel guilty. Was it really true that because he was a dark creature, his entire family had to suffer? No wonder everyone wanted to abandon him, who was he kidding? Soon his parents would, and then his friends...

"REMUS JOHN LUPIN!"

Remus was snapped out of his depressing thoughts at his mother's shout.

"Do you _agree_?"

"Er, uh, yeah, of course. I will always tell you when I plan to lie to my friends."

"Good," Hope said, smiling. "So..." she passed out the food Muggle-style. "How is school? Tell me everything."

Remus grinned. "Well, school is great! I mean, I loved being at home, but now I get to learn magic, and I made brilliant friends - and how smart they are too-"

"-Who's your best friend?" Hope interrupted, instantly curious.

"I mean...they're all my best friends," Remus said, trailing off, unsure exactly how to answer. "But I think my best friend is Sirius. James has the tendency to lose his cool a bit, and well, Peter, he's a bit off."

"And these boys, are they well behaved?" Hope pressed on.

"Er..." Remus saw Lyall nodding his head rapidly. "Yeah, extremely well behaved. All the teachers love them! In fact, I saw Professor Slughorn saying that Sirius was like an angel - a model student. And James and Peter are _always_ reprimanding the naughty students. Oh, and we study. All the time. Like, we barely chat, we study. And..."

Needless to say, Hope was not impressed with this description.

"Overkill, Remus," Lyall said. "When you explain too many details and you ramble, people are going to know that you're lying."

Hope turned to Lyall.

"What do you know of these boys?"

"Erm...nothing. Just that they're extremely well-behaved, and Sirius is an angel," Lyall said, winking at Remus. Unfortunately, this wink was not very subtle, and Hope noticed.

She wasn't ecstatic at this description, but after a few minutes, sighed. "Well, I haven't gotten any letters of you misbehaving after the first day of school, so I do suppose you can't be getting in much trouble. I mean, you must remember, going to Hogwarts is a privilege. You must remember that."

Remus was very confused. How could his mum not get the numerous letters his parents should've received for his detentions? He chose not to question it.

"On a different note, Remus, we have gotten you another healer to come and look at you. Perhaps Healer Johns will have a potential cure," Lyall said.

"Wait, what? Daddy...you know there's no cure. And there's not going to be a cure. Just - just stop trying," Remus moaned.

"Remus!" Hope snapped. "Don't speak that way. We will find a cure for your disease."

"Disease?" Remus exclaimed, clenching his jaw. "It's who I am! Are you calling me a disease?"

"Remus Lupin! Go to your bedroom!" Hope shrieked.

Lyall stayed silent as Remus was sent to his bedroom.

"Perhaps, dear, you might've overreacted?" Lyall asked hesitantly.

"Don't get me started on you," Hope said, glaring. "I know you're hiding something from me, and I'm going to find out what. Sirius...an angel...c'mon."

* * *

><p>"Mrs Pettigrew, you have such a lovely home. And blimey, those drapes. Absolutely spiffy," James said, speaking in an abnormally low voice.<p>

Mrs Pettigrew seemed to take no notice of the odd behavior and laughed heartily. "Ah, you're such the charmer. Thank you James."

"Where's my favorite boy?" a man's voice called before revealing himself to the living room.

"Dad!"

Peter leapt into the man's arms, before realizing James was watching him, and started to shake off his dad as if his dad was the one to initiate the hug.

James, however, was watching Mr Pettigrew, less concerned about Peter's childish behavior, and more focused on the interesting appearance of Mr Pettigrew. He was wearing a purple Muggle collared shirt, and a pair of baggy Muggle shorts, on which seemed to be printed many palm trees. He was wearing a pair of high knitted socks, and his blonde hair was gelled neatly over his quite large head.

"N-nice to meet you, sir," James said at last. "Peter has said so many wonderful things about you. I've been so anxious to meet you. And don't you certainly look _dashing_."

Mr Pettigrew grinned. "I am trying a new Muggle look. Don't I just blend in?"

"Blend in? Sir, you look like a star!"

Mrs Pettigrew laughed. "Don't you just love him?"

James bowed and blew a kiss to the both of them and twirled. Peter couldn't understand why this was necessary, but apparently it made both his parents laugh. Not wanting to be left out of the action with his own parents, Peter took a bow, blew a kiss, and twirled. Unfortunately, something went wrong and he twirled straight into the pantry. He found himself covered in flour and sugar.

James bit his lip to prevent him from laughing.

"Oh Peter," Mrs Pettigrew laughed, somewhat nervously. James couldn't help but notice that Mrs Pettigrew laughed an awful lot. "Always the klutz."

"I've got this, Peter," James said, wanting to impress the Pettigrews even more. "_Scourgify_!"

Peter was covered in soap, but just as quickly, found himself dry and clean.

"_Peter_ and I learned that spell _together_," James said, smiling. "It's not part of the First Year curriculum, but we just love learning magic, don't we, Peter?"

Peter, thankful that James was helping him through his embarrassing moment, grinned lopsidedly. "Yeah. I've learned so much magic."

"Forget magic, Pete!" Mr Pettigrew said, clapping his boy on the back. "We've heard of all the trouble you've gotten yourself into to as well. Certainly know how to make yourself wickedly popular," Mr Pettigrew continued, winking.

Peter grinned. "You haven't even heard all of it. We managed to prank that snobbish girl, Evans, right James?"

James, however, was stuck on a very certain phrase. "What do you mean, you know of the trouble he's gotten into? Does Peter actually write this stuff in letters?"

"_No_," Peter denied quickly. "I only talk about the weird people in school."

Mrs Pettigrew laughed, and James smiled crookedly, unsure how to react to Mrs Pettigrew's nonstop laughing. "I actually have some of his letters. Want to hear a few quotes?"

James, losing all pretenses of formality and respectfulness, jumped at this offer. "Um, yeah!"

Peter did not like where this was going.

"But mum..."

"Quiet, Peter," Mrs Pettigrew said. "Now, let's see, oh!" she chuckled. "'Met this boy, James Potter. He has messy hair and seems to be quite full of himself.' And, 'I think Remus is my best friend.' And, my personal favorite, 'James is the brother I never had. He's an angel from heaven, who's going to protect me from the mean people at Hogwarts.'"

Peter wished there was a box of sand he could stuff his head into and never take it out again.

Even James didn't know what to say. He knew Peter looked up to him but...

"Wow, Pete, I feel exactly the same way about you!" James exclaimed. "We really are, like, best friends."

Not wanting to continue this conversation any further, Peter said, "Anyway, dad, how'd you know about all the trouble I got into? I told you I did pranks, but that's it."

"Didn't you know?" Mr Pettigrew asked, looking shocked. "Professor McGonagall writes home to us every time you get a detention."

"_What_?" James can't believe his ears. His parents weren't fond of him getting into mischief - his mum especially. But then he started to think about Sirius when he'd go home for the summer - he was surprised he hadn't gotten more Howlers.

"It's not to worry, it's all in good fun," Mrs Pettigrew said, laughing. "We know you're sweet boys."

"These letters do often mention the advanceness of your pranks," Mr Pettigrew said. "You boys managed to impress the teachers and the students. This is quite the achievement."

"Oh, James!" Mrs Pettigrew said, suddenly remembering something. "I never showed you Peter's old pictures. You'll love them!"

James grinned, and Peter blushed, wishing he or his parents would just promptly disappear so James wouldn't have so much blackmail on him.

* * *

><p>"Really?" Sirius asked, staring at the blonde-haired girl wide-eyed. "There is no way you can do that."<p>

"Can too," she said, grinning, and casting a spell on a piece of parchment.

Words started to form on the parchment, looking similar to how her handwriting looked to the sample on the top.

"B-but - just - wow! So it's like serious just saying what you're thinking?"

"Yup. My friends and I use it to pass notes _all the time_."

"This is perfect for us!" Sirius exclaimed.

She laughed. "Just remember, the incantation is _Anie Scribus_. No wand movement. Try it."

"_Anie Scribus_!" The parchment immediately filled itself with Sirius' handwriting, listing praises of the spell he had used. "Wow!"

"I'm glad you like it. It's brilliant. When Darcy and I came across this in the library, we just knew it would be perfect. Especially because now, no professor is ever going to make us read our talks about, well, girl-stuff, in front of the whole class. Aragon is particularly ruthless about that."

"Yeah, we know," Sirius said. "But I've definitely learned a lot."

"There's no doubt about that. If you work hard, it's a good class. At least, it's ten times better than Slughorn's class. He either likes you or he doesn't. And he doesn't help those who are struggling and he doesn't like. For some people, potions really doesn't come easy to them."

Sirius immediately thought about Remus and Peter.

"But I guess you don't have that problem," Clara Brown continued. "I mean, you're a _Black_, he's bound to like you."

Sirius narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Well, y'know, you're from a blood purist family who's very powerful. Professor Slughorn loves to surround himself with people like you, and other unique students."

Sirius did not like that. "Is that really how everyone views me? Just another Black? Was it not enough to hear my mum scream at me in front of the entire school? I thought he liked me for _me_."

Clara felt a little uncomfortable. "Well..."

"I just don't get it. My mum literally didn't even let me come home - I'm the black sheep of the family. I've betrayed everyone. And here, well, I thought he adored me because of my charm or something, and now you're telling me it's just because I was born to my mum."

Clara was silent.

"And now, as if that wasn't enough, even here people are looking at me as a Black. Black's don't view me as a Black, so how can you?"

"Hey, Sirius," Clara said, looking rather alarmed. "I don't view you as another Black. Not with the type of people you hang out with. At first, some of us were a little unnerved about having you around, but Potter loved you, and you're wonderful to have around. If anything, you've shed your old image."

"Seriously?"

"I mean, yeah. The fact I feel comfortable enough to hang out with you on Christmas week with no witnesses should be enough of a sign. My parents always told me to stay away from potential dark wizards and those who are not afraid to use dark magic, but you don't seem to be the case. You're very Gryffindor, and you're friends with a Half-blood and a blood-traitor. You're different."

Sirius relaxed. "I mean, I'm sure you know that I grew up learning dark magic, but I hated it. I don't want to use it. And I'm glad you're giving me a chance."

Clara grinned. "It's all in good heart, of course," she paused. "Didn't you say you had a meeting with Slughorn or something at six?"

"Oh, Merlin, yes! It was nice talking to you, Clara. We should speak more - perhaps get you on the 'no-prank' list," Sirius said, getting up, and cheekily winking.

* * *

><p>Healer Johns was sitting on the living room couch, sipping a cup of tea and staring at Remus.<p>

"Well, the truth is, I have no real cure," Johns said finally.

Remus rolled his eyes, while his parents simply looked shocked.

"Why would you lie about that?" Lyall asked.

"Oh come on, Daddy, isn't it obvious? It's because you offered to pay in advance, and he's a Healer and also someone who wants to make money," Remus said. "And, you, good sir Healer Johns, are a jerk."

"Woah, now, Remus," Hope said, putting a hand on Remus' shoulder.

"I have been studying lycanthropy for quite some time," Johns said, trying not to look like he cared about Remus' outburst in the slightest. "And I can assure you, I will keep it a secret, as I, myself, view the stereotypical werewolf stigma to be false. I was wondering, if, perhaps, we can make the transformations more bearable."

"More bearable? That's impossible, sir. My bones will always break, and it will always be painful. Thank you for your help."

"Actually, Mr Johns," Hope said, squeezing Remus' shoulder tighter, as if it was helping calm him down in any way. "Remus has noted that sometimes he's almost forgotten about his transformation, that the before stage was not painful."

"I heard of no such thing," Lyall said, looking slightly angry towards Remus. "You do realize how danger-"

"Mr Lupin, there is no need to fret," Healer Johns said. "This is interesting, what Remus is describing."

"I'm perfectly sure it's nothing, Oh-you-learned-man, Healer Johns," Remus said, simply miffed with the whole meeting. "Just immaturity on my part."

"Actually, I do not believe so," Healer Johns said. "I know you are attending Hogwarts School, is that correct?"

"Yes."

"Well, as I am sure you are doing a fine job in keeping who you are a secret, you have managed to make many friends?"

"I have a few."

"And they have been keeping you busy, and you are having fun?"

"Yes, but what does this have to with anything other than that my friendship is a ticking time bomb that will inevitably explode at any-"

"But that, Remus, is it. Sometimes, you feel less stressed, and the effects become less. On days you are more stressed - let's suppose you were scared one of your friends was going to discover your secret. You're going to feel worse. Now, lookwise, you're still going to look pale and everything, as I am sure people have noted, but ultimately, you are not going to feel as bad. Think of it in terms of a Muggle lifestyle. Stress always causes things to be worse. When you're with friends, do you sometimes forget about your condition, and think of yourself as a young, carefree, normal eleven-year-old wizard?"

"Erm...yes. Sometimes...it actually does make sense, sir. I apologize for my poor attitude."

"It is fully excused, Remus. I do understand, it can be very stressful, having to go through this, but I am glad I feel that I was able to alleviate some of the confusion."

Lyall was clenching his jaw, and Remus didn't know why. He just knew that his father was awfully frightening when he looked like that.

"Well, Healer, this has been most helpful," Lyall said. "Might I show you the door now? We want to maximize the private family time we can spend with our son."

"Why, yes, of course," Healer Johns said. "I can show myself out."

"No need," Lyall said, smiling awkwardly. "I'll walk you there."

As soon as Lyall shut the door, he turned around and stared at Remus.

"What is wrong with you?!"

"I'm sorry, daddy, I apologized for my poor showing - I thought he was another fraud and -"

"Not _that_?! How can you possibly forget? You want to bite someone? You want to bite your friends? You want them to discover your secrets?"

"N-no, of course n-not, I mean, my teachers were sending me owls before, well, before I told them I could handle it, and that my friends were getting s-suspicious..."

"That's what they all say! You're going to go to Azkaban, if you're not careful. We thought you'd be mature, and handle who you are with care!"

"I've been trying and-"

"There is no excuse for the poor behavior, Remus. You are behaving like a complete monster and" ("I'm going to make some tea, Lyall, please calm down," Hope said, fleeing the room.) "are proving that maybe you can't handle Hogwarts!"

"You're the one who told me I should try to have fun!"

"That is what your mother was told before she went to university, but that doesn't mean she lost all sense of responsibility, just to make friends. What is more important? Making friends or keeping them safe?"

"I...I want to keep them safe."

"That's right. Now you are to go to the Hospital Wing a day in advance, and are to tell your friends that you are sick. Not your mum - that secret is a bust given they saw your mother on the platform in perfectly fine health - but you. And you are to remain there. I have let you off the hook with the detention letters we have received from school, and will continue to, if you promise me that you will behave responsibly."

"I will, daddy," Remus said, feeling completely ashamed. How could he have not investigated this problem earlier?

"I know you're a responsible boy, Remus, and extremely talented. Those professors do seem awfully impressed with the spellwork you have achieved and -"

"LYALL LUPIN!" came a shriek from the kitchen.

Remus and his father looked at each other, startled by the disturbance of their heartwarming makeup.

"What is it dear?"

"WHAT ARE THESE LETTERS DOING IN HERE?!" Hope stalked out of the room, holding a large pile of yellowing papers. "'To whom it may concern: Remus Lupin has received yet another detention.' You've been getting detentions?"

Remus winced. This would take a lot of explaining.

The next day, when Remus woke up, three days before the full moon, he felt terribly ill. He couldn't get out of bed. _Well, at least now I can't forget_, Remus thought dryly. He hated being sick.

* * *

><p>"Oh, James!" Pammy exclaimed. "Oh, how I missed you so much!"<p>

Carl, meanwhile, held his hand out towards Peter.

"Pleasure to meet you," he said. Peter shook his hand, and winced as he noticed how much it was sweating. He hadn't expected Mr Potter to be this formal.

James was laughing - he certainly did miss his mum. However, he noticed Peter's discomfort and wanted to help. "Dad, you're not making a deal with Pete, y'know."

Carl chuckled, "Trying not to embarrass you."

"Don't worry, dad, you're embarrassing enough just by existing, you can't mess up anymore."

"So, Peter," Carl asked, turning to the boy. "Do you play Quidditch?"

Pammy made a sound, "Not even five minutes and you're ready to take the boys out? Such a mess."

Carl gave a sheepish grin. "Well, boys, why don't we go eat lunch?"

As if on cue, Peter's stomach grumbled. "Yes please!"

Once James started eating, and, erm, Peter started wolfing down the food like no tomorrow, Pammy felt that it was good time to bring up a pressing issue on her mind.

"So, James, is there anything you want to tell me about your school life?"

This was it. "Erm, well..."

"A little birdie came and told me that someone has been getting a multitude of detentions," Pammy declared, looking disappointed.

"This is going to hurt your chances on becoming an Auror, or getting any job of importance," Carl said, jumping on the bandwagon.

"So, well," James said, glancing at Peter and then his parents. "I guess you're not going to tell me how proud you are about the magic I have been using?"

"_James_," Pammy hissed. "You're ruining your chances of becoming anything. At least now there's still time to change. You're a talented young man - we want to see your behavior reflecting that."

"Guess you'd rather James be Evans, huh," Peter said so only James could hear. James was amused.

"James, you're not supposed to get caught. That's the first rule of pranking," Carl said. "You definitely can prank if you don't get the blame for it, and you don't pile on detentions."

"Wait, really?" James asked.

"_No_," Pammy said sternly. "There will be no pranking."

"Er, no pranking, got it."

"I _mean _it. I don't want to receive another owl on how my son changed the color of the Slytherins' hair."

"I promise. You will not receive another owl," James said confidently.

Peter didn't know what was to happen of their detention contest, but he knew that this would be a bad time to bring it up. After all, Peter didn't want to get James into trouble. Peter did notice that Carl had a mysterious glint in his eye. He looked awfully amused, Peter couldn't help but wonder if he knew James would continue to prank using the Invisibility Cloak. He also started to wonder what James said about him behind his back. Did James view him as his best friend? Perhaps because he was spending so many days with James, Peter would become cooler in his eyes.

However, wanting to change the subject away from James' probable trouble with his parents, Peter took a moment to change the subject.

"Have you any baby pictures of James I can see?" he asked innocently enough.

"_Pete!_" James was not pleased with this request.

"Of course!" Pammy said, looking delighted. "It certainly is refreshing to see a young man like yourself interested in the beginnings."

Peter got up smugly from the table and followed Pammy. James was certain he heard Peter muttering "payback time!" And James knew he had so many more embarrassing pictures of him as a child than Peter had.

* * *

><p>Sirius walked down the hallways of Hogwarts, noting the beauty of the castle. Hogwarts definitely had a different feel now that it was emptier, and Sirius actually found himself enjoying it. He decided that he was going to enter every room he came across and see if he could discover anything.<p>

He entered the first room, and found in unlocked. Of course, looking back, Sirius should've looked at the door before he entered the room, and ended up walking straight into McGonagall's office.

"Minnie!" he exclaimed.

"Oh _joy_," she responded.

"My name isn't 'Joy', McG, have you forgotten so soon? It's Sirius, or as you like to call me, Mr Black."

McGonagall sighed. It seemed that it was too early for her to deal with Sirius. Sirius did want to point out that it was 6pm and actually not early at all, but he was certain that the professor would not appreciate it.

"Why have you come to my office, Mr Black?"

"You want the truth, Professor?"

"I didn't ask you for a lie, Mr Black. I could've made one up myself."

"Well, I was actually planning to wander through Hogwarts and see all the rooms I could see during curfew. Unfortunately, as you can see, I ended up coming here."

"It is nice to see you putting some stock into the rules," McGonagall said, nodding in approval. "But wandering the halls - don't you find it a rather boring task?"

"If you do wish me to be more honest with you, Professor," McGonagall blinked at being addressed with respect two times in a row by Sirius. "I have been rather bored. I have been on top of all my work, there's only so many books with impressive spells I can read without immediately sharing it with my friends, and only so many new students I can talk to. I thought that maybe I would pass the time by walking - it always used to clear my head at home, just looking at all the places my house had to offer."

McGonagall smiled. "It's typical of Walburga, you know, keep her child at Hogwarts over the break. Publicly shame him. She's always been so absorbed with how people perceive her, as an individual and less so on her peers. It wouldn't surprise me if she did not care so much about your historical sorting, as she did about how that directly affected her."

"Well, that is my mum. Dear old mum. She's wonderful," Sirius paused, thinking. "It's funny you talk about her on a first name basis. You didn't know her at Hogwarts, did you?"

McGonagall was not surprised that Sirius would pick up on her use of his mother's first name. He really was a clever boy.

"Yes, I did know her. Of course, I was in Gryffindor and she was in Slytherin. She was a year above me, but definitely made herself known throughout the castle. There was this one time she challenged me to a duel." McGonagall had a subtle, smug expression upon her face. "What a terrible mistake on her part. I'm fairly certain after that she hated me. And I know for a fact she was not pleased to learn I was her son's Head of House."

Sirius' jaw dropped. "I didn't know my mum lost a duel with _you_!"

"Why yes, she did." McGonagall was feeling rather pleased at the reaction she had received from Sirius.

"How did this happen?"

"Well," McGonagall spoke softer, as if she were sharing a deep secret with Sirius. "Because it is Christmas, and we are having this discussion, I suppose I can tell you. I was friends with a girl called Valerie Pickens. She and I were, in a way, similar to yourself and James. We wanted to play tricks with everyone. Of course, ours were _far _less cruel, and I do not approve of yours and James' behavior," Sirius could not believe his ears on what was happening. "but we were also rather loud-spoken against the Slytherins. Now, I look back and realize we were wrong, and had made many assumptions about the House, painting it with a broad brush. But we were highly against the use of Dark Magic. As you know, your mum was rather fond of Dark Magic, and we made it a point to hint at it when speaking to any teacher and anyone we found of importance. I suppose later she got fed up with our behavior when we had started to say that those who use Dark Magic were weaker than everyone else, and decided to prove her strength with a duel."

Sirius' eyes were wide. There was no way this was the strict McGonagall who got them in trouble for every little thing. He _knew_ there had been something that happened because McGonagall had been giving him small looks of encouragement and pride every time she caught his eye when he was alone, but he had no idea it was of something to this extent. McGonagall was _brilliant_.

"I can't believe it."

"Believe what you will, Mr Black. But I can assure you that Dark Magic is not the best study of magic to participate in, and I know for a fact you will not follow the same path as your mum."

"I'm already on a different path, Professor. I will not let you down," Sirius said, vowing to himself that even if he and his friends got into a large fight, he would always choose the side of light for his Professor, who had been so kind in sharing her part in the fight against his family to make Sirius feel better and less lonely.

McGonagall appraised Sirius and nodded.

Sirius stood up. "Thank you Professor. I did enjoy this conversation."

"You are quite welcome, Mr Black. Might I request you do not spend too much time exploring the castle, and instead head down to the Great Hall, where you may enjoy the feast laid out?"

Sirius didn't feel that hungry, but after this talk, he couldn't go ahead and say that. "Yeah, I think I'll do that. Wandering isn't quite as fun without James – don't tell him that."

"Right, Mr Black."

And with that, Sirius headed down to the Great Hall. He hadn't realized how interesting McGonagall really was, and he did truly appreciate her making him feel more comfortable staying at Hogwarts instead of his house. It wasn't in the way Slughorn had tried to make him feel last night (he had a whole speech about the many more connections he would be able to make being friendly with the Gryffindors as well as the Noble House of Black), but more indirect, making him realize that he wasn't alone in this fight. In some ways, he actually felt better about himself.

"Mr Black?"

Sirius stopped. "Professor Aragon?"

Aragon gave him an intrigued look. "Heading down for dinner, I presume?"

"I was, but I'm really not all that hungry. Minnie sent me to go get food, and well, you know her…you just can't say no."

Aragon laughed. Sirius was slightly disturbed to notice a Professor giving a real hearty laugh. Teachers weren't exactly human beings, now, were they?

"Fancy an evening defense lesson?"

"Er, sure," Sirius said, shrugging his shoulders. "Why not. Not like I have anything better to do." Sirius tried very hard to make it seem that this was a last resort. He didn't know who he was kidding though, he was excited to see what the Professor had in store for him. Aragon was definitely one of those teachers who knew a lot and made you feel like you were learning something. Yes, he was strict, but he was certainly helpful.

"Very well," Aragon said, leading Sirius to the nearest classroom. "I was wondering, you must be rather interested in learning to defend yourself from the dark arts, given your history – of course, if you weren't planning to dabble in them yourself."

"Of course not, Professor. Defending myself is a good skill to have…" Sirius couldn't help but note that the Professor-Count who had directly told him to stay away from dark magic was now two: Aragon and McGonagall.

"As I suspected, and as it is a good skill for all."

"Actually, I've been meaning to ask…I didn't want to bring it up in front of other students, they might become nervous unnecessarily, but, well….and don't get anyone in trouble for this, but…how did you know about my family's use of the Unforgivable Curses?" Sirius asked. "On the first day. You threatened me quite a bit, and I wasn't sure how to react…"

"Ah, yes. Well, Mr Black, I have made a few friends that are blood purists and come from blood purist families. I, myself, am not prejudice about Muggleborns and Halfbloods, but some of my friends do tend to try and, well, discipline their children."

"My parents have never been horrible about it though…maybe once or twice. Regulus, my younger brother, actually gets into a little more trouble at home. I think now, though, things are going to be different. I've really betrayed my family, y'know." Sirius wasn't entirely sure what was making him reveal himself towards different Professors. He was normally good at not letting this enter his life. He blamed it on the lack of pranking and other things that normally kept him busy.

"Mr Black, I understand that you feel that way, but I do believe the relationship with your family can be mended. Your parents, deep down, really do care about you, and want you to be successful in the way they view as successful. And, even if I am wrong, you will always have people here who wish to help you cope. You will not have betrayed us if you choose to focus on real magic."

Sirius made a sound of agreement. "Does this heart-to-heart conversation mean you're not going to make my friends and I come up in front of the class if we do something wrong?"

Professor Aragon chuckled. "We'll see."

Sirius smiled, but knew in 'adult-speak,' 'we'll see' was just another word for 'no.'

"Anyway, Mr Black, enough chit-chat. I thought that perhaps I can teach you a spell for if you happen to wander the forest at night." Sirius opened his mouth. "No, Mr Black, do not lie. I do know you want to enter that place. And in there, there are many dark creatures. There are also many spiders, which can be fatal and can paralyze you in the same way they would to a Muggle. But there are ways to defend ourselves. This spell will expel all spiders within a radius, and perhaps paralyze other creatures and monsters in the vicinity. Now, I want you to listen closely to the incantation. _Arania Exumai_."

"_Arania Exumai_."

"Very good, Mr Black. Now, the incantation alone is not enough. I'm going to want you to visualize in your head a spider – get it as detailed as possible – and then picture its legs and head falling apart. As if the spider was a set of building blocks, merely taped together, and every part that is a junction comes apart. It is a tricky image, but I think you can manage it."

Sirius tried very hard to follow what Aragon was saying. "I think I got it, sir."

"All right. Now, I'm going to transfigure this dust mite into a spider – completely harmless – and I want you to expel it. Let's see how you do."

Sirius nodded his head, and gripped his wand tightly.

"Go!"

Sirius shut his eyes and pictured the spider, broken. "_Arania Exumai!_ _Arania Exumai! Arania Exumai!_" Sirius felt a little buzz from his wand, but nothing more. Deciding that this was not harming the spider, he proceeded to stomp on it with his shoe.

Aragon was staring at Sirius like he lost his mind, but composed himself quickly. "All right, Mr Black, you did manage to kill the spider, but why don't we try to use the spell. It wasn't bad for a first try, Mr Black. Your technique was brilliant. You must visualize the scene more clearly."

"Yes sir."

After fifteen minutes of attempting, Sirius managed to destroy the spider with the spell only.

"I did it!" he exclaimed.

Aragon smiled. He was glad he had found a spell to challenge Sirius in a way he could feel the immense pride in accomplishing something. Perhaps now he would be able to foster a love for Defense and away from the Dark Arts.

"Why don't we try with more spiders?"

And this carried on for half an hour. Aragon continued to add more spiders, and Sirius' curse started to become more and more powerful. Finally, he created a full-fledged attack shield for the small yet dangerous creatures he would potentially come across had he visited the Forbidden Forest. The entire room had flashed bright blue – Aragon and he had been almost glowing compared to the rest of the classroom. There was no trace of any spider left behind.

"Well done, Mr Black. That was certainly a Exudia spell."

"Thanks Professor."

"I daresay now you feel just a little hungry and wish to consume some dinner in the Great Hall?"

"Yes, Professor Aragon, I actually do," Sirius said, grinning. "I feel like I've just won a trophy or something, Professor. I feel like an accomplished wizard."

Aragon laughed. "Certainly, Mr Black. As you push yourself in all your subjects, you will learn more. I recommend you continue to read and encourage you to try different magic that may be slightly beyond your years. Just to see. You certainly are a bright young man, well deserving of your name."

"The Black name does not mean anything about my abilities, sir," Sirius said, before adding, "With all due respect, of course."

"I meant it towards your given name, actually," Aragon said. "You are named after the dog star, the brightest star in the sky. You certainly are bright – one of the brightest students at Hogwarts."

"Now, now, Walter, we don't want to inflate his ego too much."

Sirius whipped around and saw Professor Flitwick standing at the door.

"Many of the students have already consumed their meals and left, Mr Black. Surely you want in on some of that food action?"

"Yes, Fily," Sirius said, waltzing over to the door. "Thanks Professor Aragon."

After exiting the classroom, Professor Flitwick looked at Sirius sternly. "If we weren't on break, Gryffindor would definitely be losing some points for your rudeness."

"Sorry, Flit," Sirius said, a cheeky grin on his face. "As it is, though, it is break, and I may address you with as little respect as I wish, given what you said."

Professor Flitwick merely shook his head in amusement.

"Oho! Mr Black, m'boy!"

Even though Clara had attempted to explain Slughorn's fascination with Sirius, it didn't make him feel anymore excited to be consistently singled out by the Professor.

"Come eat with me, Mr Black!"

Resigning himself to his fate, he nodded, plastering a rather fake smile across face. "But of course, my dear Professor Slughorn. Where else would I sit?"

Sirius could _feel_ Professor Flitwick's amusement as he ambled next to Professor Slughorn. After Sirius had picked out some food and started eating, he noticed that Slughorn had pulled out a wooden chess set.

"Er, Professor? Are you going to play chess by yourself? If you are, I would not want to disrupt and—"

"—No, my dear boy, I was hoping to play with you!"

"With me?"

"Of course!"

Sirius did not like the sound of this, but wanted to stay in good books with the Professor, seeing as favoritism was a huge part of his grading. He didn't want to act like it, but he did care about getting good grades. Of course, he didn't have to worry about it all that much….

"All right, Professor, let's start," Sirius said.

"Oh, m'boy, we can't just start like that. We must wager something."

"You want to gamble?" Sirius raised his eyebrows.

"It's not real chess without it."

Sirius felt that chess was not really a game which you betted on your winning, but he didn't question the Slug's expertise.

"All right. How about five galleons?"

"Done," Professor Slughorn said. "Now we can play."

Sirius made the first move, directing his knight. Professor Slughorn alternated, and Sirius captured Slughorn's bishop a few moves later. The game carried on for a while, but soon, Sirius saw the trap, and leapt at the opportunity.

"Checkmate," he said. "All right, Professor, you wanted to bet, pay up."

Professor Slughorn smiled. "Well played." He then proceeded to pull out a piece of parchment and write something upon it.

Sirius was confused. "Professor, surely you don't write money for yourself that actually works, can you?"

"Of course not, Mr Black. This here is a deal I learned from the Muggles. When you can't pay up on front—"

"Why'd you agree to a bet you couldn't afford, Professor?"

"—I didn't believe I would lose, Mr Black. Now, as I was saying, I am issuing you a note that says I owe you some money."

Sirius glanced down at the writing.

**I.O.U.**

**To one Sirius Black, five galleons**

**Horace Slughorn**

"You may exchange it in the future," Professor Slughorn said.

"I feel like I've been cheated out of receiving five galleons," Sirius said, looking skeptically at the note.

"Perhaps, but I am now in your debt. You may take it as you will."

"You know what? Maybe this isn't so bad," Sirius said. His mind was rushing through all the possibilities an I.O.U. note opened up for him…

* * *

><p>The table was laid out, made perfectly for all of the Potter family who would be gathering this Christmas. Pammy was laying the green ornaments and other decorations on the floor and on the hem of the table. She had just finished decorating the Christmas tree – the star could be seen from where James would be sitting. The entire Potter family had arrived, and were freshening up in the many bathrooms of Potter manor.<p>

"It's a shame you can't stay longer Pete, but I definitely had a great time," Carl said, outstretching his hand once more for Peter to shake. Peter had gotten used to Carl's continuous handshaking. "I'll leave you and James to say your goodbyes."

"Thanks dad," James said, feeling a terrible pit in his stomach as he looked at the table. "Peter…are you sure you have to go?"

Peter grinned. "I didn't know you liked having me around so much."

"Well…you are one of my best friends, Peter. But, I dunno…it's a weird feeling. I had a dream that the table looked exactly like this and well, you weren't there and…"

"Hey, James, don't worry about it," Peter said. "Look, you decorate the table like this every year, right?"

"Well, yes."

"And you always have your entire family gather around, and you always sit in that spot, and you can always see the Christmas tree."

"Yes."

"That settles it," Peter said, smiling. "You were just having a dream about Christmas. And maybe the green light was just me flooing away…and maybe ending up at the wrong gate or something. Completely normal and understandable, given we had been planning this for a while."

"Yeah, you're right Pete. Thanks. I feel better."

"I'm glad I could help," Peter said. "Thanks for having me over."

"Yeah, thanks for coming, and thank your parents again for me. I had a lot of fun."

"Same," Peter said, taking a breath. "All right. Happy Christmas."

"Happy Christmas."

Peter flooed safely away, and James took a sigh of relief.

"James, come on, we're almost all ready!" Pammy called.

"Coming mum!" James said, running over. "I always do enjoy your feast, mum. Hogwarts food is good, but there's nothing quite like a nice meal prepared by you."

Pammy smiled. "Always the charmer, James. Home isn't the same without you."

"Of course not. I'm the life of the party."

James sat down at his seat, the lights bright all around him. There really was no better time than Christmas for family. The rest of their family gathered round. James couldn't help but really start to feel thankful for what he had. He had a family, and there was nothing more special than that.

"I would like to say what a wonderful year this has been for all of us," Carl said. "And I am so glad to have us all gathered around this table today, and enjoy this scrumptious feast Pam has prepared for us. I would also like to–"

A loud thumping noise interrupted Carl's speech, and a flash of green light.

"JAMES!"

James' eyes went as big as saucers. "Peter."

**A/N: AHAHAHAHAHA! A cliffhanger. For real this time XD Hopefully I won't take too long for the next chapter (I couldn't hold on to this for long enough. I wanted you guys to read it). Remember to review...what happened? I want to see your guesses.**

**Now, to thank my reviewers! Oh...for those of you who reviewed the previous chapter and then couldn't login with this one. It's because I deleted the authors note I had before that apologized for a late update or something. I didn't think it had anything to do with the story so I got rid of it. But now I just realized I caused a couple minor issues...**

**5423789: Thank you for your review :) As always, I love hearing from you. AND STEFFES IS ON HER SIXTH YEAR FOR THE MARAUDERS! YOU NEED TO READ IT.**

**xxCallMeAmyxx: Thanks. I love my anus too.**

**Dawn Lovix: Thank you for your review! I'm glad you liked the Sirius/James talk. Had a bit of trouble with Sirius angst XD But I'm glad the talk was sweet. I kind of like the idea of Sirius getting jealous of Peter, which is just such a ludicrous idea in itself.**

**Morgan Lovegood: Awesome**


End file.
